


exile

by alongthewatchtower



Series: a place to lay your head [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, mentions of physical and emotional abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-06
Updated: 2014-07-12
Packaged: 2018-01-23 19:06:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1576280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alongthewatchtower/pseuds/alongthewatchtower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>London is … Niall can’t describe it. It’s big, and he keeps getting lost on the tube, easily flustered by the press of people - he’s never had so many people touch him, ever, was always taught that an omega should be pure, shouldn’t let himself be touched by Alphas or Betas, saving himself for his Bonded - and the fact that he can’t keep the lines straight in his head. It’s noisy, a cacophony of voices and vehicles and never, never a moment’s silence. It’s full of strangers, nothing at all like home, where everyone knew everyone else (where everyone who looked at him <i>knew</i>). The only person he knows in London is his Aunt Elizabeth - <i>call me Libby, dear</i> - an ageing Beta who lost her mate young, who works as a nurse, odd shifts meaning they hardly ever see each other. His workplace is a confusing mix of all bodily orientations, bonded and unbonded alike.</p><p>London is ... life in exile.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. ruined

**Author's Note:**

> Niall whumpage. Seriously. Un-beta'd, hastily written, all apologies given and thanks made for reading.

  
  
Niall works at a music studio.  
  
Only, that’s not really right. Payne Productions is, like the title suggests, a production company. Niall’s not really sure what a lot of the business does, but he knows that there’s rooms and rooms of instruments and a bunch of studios and soundproofed rooms, floors of offices and worker-bee bullpens.  
  
Niall works in the mailroom.  
  
Niall works at Payne Productions because after he moved to (was sent to) London to live with his Aunt Libby ( _bit of a liberal wackadoodle, but more than you deserve right now, boy_ ), two months shy of finishing school with no actual qualifications, it was the only job he could find with an immediate start. Libby got him the interview. The mailroom supervisor, a sweet middle-aged woman named Marie, is a friend of Libby’s. She took Niall under her wing, trained him up and gave him a walking tour and set him loose with the cart, lets him deliver the post to all the bullpens and shiny offices.  
  
Niall likes the mailroom. It’s quiet, the golden oldies station on in the background as the couriers step in and out. There’s a Beta a few years older than Niall who works two hours every morning on sorting duty, but other than that it’s just him and Marie. Niall has a desk and a shelf in the fridge and his own bright blue tea mug. It’s light years (nearly five hundred miles from home) away from what he thought his life would be like, but he’s grateful for what he has. He gets up in the morning and takes his suppressor and his scent-blocker, makes himself breakfast and comes to work in Mr. Payne’s shiny building. He goes to lunch every day at one, to the gourmet bakery round the corner that’s more homely than fancy, where the pretty, blue-eyed omega behind the counter calls him _cutie_ and comes up with different variations of his name to write on his takeaway cups. He goes home to a house that smells only of him and Libby, and there’s no-one to scent him before he leaves in the morning, or give him hugs on the couch, but he tries not to mind.  
  
Niall is somewhat lonely, but it’s no less, and certainly no more, than he deserves.  
  
*  
  
On weekends, Niall likes to wander. He bought an iPod with his third paycheck, realising there wasn’t really anybody to save it for. He pays Libby a tiny amount each week for the room he lives in, barely enough to cover utilities, but she won’t take more, and besides food, there’s not really much Niall spends his money on. He used to play guitar, back when he was in Ireland, but he had to leave it behind, and hasn’t had the heart to look at buying another. It reminds him too much of what he can’t have anymore. So he bought the next best thing, a miracle of Apple technology, and now when he wanders he listens to music - mostly safe, sensible, G-rated choices, though he’s becoming increasingly daring. The first time he listened to Katy Perry on the tube, he thought he was going to be arrested.  
  
Now he wanders London with headphones in his ears, listening to his album of the week. There’s so _much_  of London. It’s so much bigger than home, and everywhere he looks there’s people going about their lives, bright and beautiful and exciting. Sometimes it makes him feel less alone. He always makes sure he’s wearing high-collared shirts under his hoodies.   
  
Niall will always be small, hollow-boned and light in the way all omegas are, pretty in the way that marks him as inferior, all cheekbones and vivid eyes. But with his neck covered, with his suppressants and his scent inhibitors, nobody can tell he’s unbonded. Nobody can tell he’s worthless, unwanted. Wandering the chilly London streets, Niall could be anyone.   
  
It’s both a terrifying and a freeing thought. He doesn’t let himself think of what he always thought life would be, of a house and a bunch of smiling children and a kind, strong Alpha coming home to them every night. If he doesn’t think about how he’s never going to have any of that, about how no Alpha is ever going to want him now, it’s alright.  
  
Saturday mornings, Niall has tea with Louis. Louis is the blue-eyed omega who works behind the counter in the gourmet bakery Niall goes to for lunch every day. He’d never really had money of his own, wasn’t used to spending it willy-nilly, so when the closest place to work with edible food turned out to be comfortable _and_  have delicious fare, Niall stopped looking for anywhere else. Louis called him cutie that first day, asked his name to put on the tea he bought on his way out, and smiled at him like they were old friends.  
  
Niall’s never met someone like Louis. He doesn’t really know many omegas at all, but the few he had met were older, bonded and settled with kids. Sensible and respectful, omegas who only spoke when spoken to, who acted demurely and did all the right things. Louis is nothing like those omegas. Louis is loud and sarcastic and teases his bondmate, who he calls _“my posh husband”_ and _“Curly”_ and _“alpha mine,”_ as if he’s not even capitalising it in his head.

Louis’ bondmate Harry is strange, for an Alpha. He smiles a lot, voice slow and kind, and he never, ever yells at Louis, even when he’s being rude. Harry spends most of his days out of sight, and Niall had been surprised to learn that he was in the kitchen, where he worked alongside the his two Beta apprentices. “He’s the baking and I’m the brains,” Louis had said, ruffling Harry’s hair as he went past, getting a wide smile in return.  
  
Early on Saturday mornings, the bakery is slow, and Louis always makes them a pot of tea instead of getting Anna, the barista, to make him a cup, and they sit on the couches at the window. Louis sits close, a comforting warmth as they curl up together in the weak winter sun. Sometimes Harry brings them breakfast, buttery croissants still warm from the oven, with thick ham and cheese. It makes Niall uncomfortable, an Alpha making him food, and he always offers to pay, but Louis always waves it off, says friends and family don’t pay, that Harry might as well be making them breakfast because if Louis did they’d end up in hospital. Niall wasn’t sure whether to laugh at that, the first time, but Harry always does, dropping a kiss to Louis’ hair before he walks away.  
  
Something in his chest always goes warm at the sight of Louis and Harry. They’re so comfortable with each other, so happy. Niall would’ve never dared to sass an Alpha the way Louis does, but Harry seems to enjoy it. He’s affectionate, and polite, and never yells.  
  
“You should smile more,” Louis says when he sees the expression on Niall's face.  
  
Niall just nods, and thanks him for the tea.  
  
Niall used to smile all the time. He was always cheerful. Always bright and happy, a ready smile waiting for any who crossed his path. He was open and friendly with everyone, perhaps more than an unbonded omega should be, but he was always careful not to speak out of turn, not to seem flirtatious, like he was leading anyone on. Like he was asking for it. But Niall’s open nature was his downfall, and one afternoon he left the house without texting his Da first. He’d snuck upstairs at Matty's, away from where Matty’s older brother and his friends were tying one on, and together they drank their two pilfered beers. Niall, who’d never had a drink before and had a stupid sensitive omega constitution to boot, fell asleep three-quarters through his first, and missed his curfew.  
  
Two of his older brothers had to come round and get him, breaking up the party downstairs and waking Niall up close to midnight, and Niall was woozy from the alcohol but still aware enough to realise that he’d messed up. His Da gave him such a blocking he couldn’t sleep, and curled up on his bed until the sun came up and it was time to go to school, where his friends wouldn’t look him in the eye, and people sneered at him in the corridors.  
  
He was on his way to London a week later.  
  
*  
  
Months pass, and Niall is officially seventeen. He has a routine now, carving out his own little place in the world. There are people who know him - the man he buys the Irish Times from on the way home, the kids who work in the record store that recommend albums to him. Sometimes he spends the whole day with Louis, who says he grew up with four little sisters and misses having other omegas around. Niall helps behind the counter sometimes when it’s busy, has spent a few Saturday afternoons on the couch in Harry and Louis’ apartment upstairs (after checking Harry wouldn’t be home, of course, unbonded omegas don’t belong in an Alpha’s private residence, even a bonded one), eating chocolate and watching footie matches. Harry, apparently, can’t abide the game, but he always listens to Louis go on about it. On Sundays Niall cleans his room and does his washing, prepares himself for the week ahead. He’s - he’s happy, even, though he hasn’t quite managed to think it yet without feeling guilty.  
  
Early one Saturday morning, so early there’s not even any regulars in yet, Niall is sun-drowsy and comfortable, curled up with Louis on the window couch when it all goes to hell.  
  
“Are you bonded?”  
  
Every part of Niall tenses. “What?”  
  
“I’m not judging you, Nialler, I’m just asking. It’s driving me nuts that I can’t tell. You’re always buttoned up, and you don’t smell of _anything,_ really.”   
  
Niall knows, rationally, that Louis isn’t trying to be unkind. But the reminder that he no longer carries a family scent stings. “I’m on blockers,” he says quietly.  
  
Louis swears, and pulls Niall closer. “I’m so sorry.”  
  
“No, it’s fine, it’s not-“ Niall knows what Louis is thinking. It’s a big deal, blocking your scent. It’s still frowned upon, and the most common users of blockers are assault victims nervous of their own scents. “It’s nothing like what you’re thinking. I just - I made a mistake, and before he sent me away my Da took me to the doctor for suppressants, and, y’know, blockers.”  
  
For some reason, Louis doesn’t let go of him, instead tightening his arms. “Suppressants? Niall, you’re so young!”  
  
“Yeah, but now I’m not scenting anymore, and it’s - it’s better. It’s fine, Louis. I’m fine."  
  
Louis is silent for a moment. Then, as it occurs to him, “Did you say you were _sent away_?”  
  
“I’m so sorry, Louis,” Niall says, feeling his face go hot. He’s shaking now, knows he’s been selfish, thinking he could have this, have Louis’ friendship. He hasn’t even thought about what brought him to London in _days_. But when it comes down to it, Louis doesn’t know Niall brought shame to his family. He doesn’t know the way Niall used to be, open and cheery and practically _wanton._  
  
Louis lets him draw away slightly, but only so far as he can look Niall in the eye. “For what?”  
  
“You shouldn’t be friends with me, Louis. I’m - what if people found out you were associating with someone like me? Someone - someone _ruined_?”  
  
“You’re not ruined, Niall.”  
  
“No,” Niall says, turning on the couch so he can face Louis properly, so he can make Louis _understand_ , because Harry may be a kind and generous Alpha but if he finds out Niall’s shameful, Louis might get in trouble. “Louis, I am, I brought shame to the family and everybody _knew_ , everybody said I had sinned and they were _right._ ”  
  
“Then tell me,” Louis challenges. “Tell me what you did, and I’ll decide.”  
  
Niall feels real tears then, feels his eyes prickle and he swipes angrily at them. “I disobeyed,” he says hotly, and he’s annoyed at Louis because why can’t he just _understand_? “I didn’t tell my Da where I was going and I had alcohol and missed curfew and I didn’t go off with Alphas like they said, but everyone could still see that I’m bad like my Ma, that I have bad thoughts in my head.”  
  
“Niall-“ Louis’ voice is soft, pitying, and he _still doesn’t understand._  
  
“No!” Niall says again, trying to keep his voice down. Harry might hear. “This is what I did, Louis! They had to put me on suppressants and send me to London because I’m unwanted now! I disobeyed and I thought about an Alpha in ways I shouldn’t and I _touched myself_ , Louis, which is a sin, and the Priest said I’ll never be clean!”  
  
Niall brings a hand to his mouth, horrified he let that last part slip, and scrambles up off the couch. “I’m sorry,” he forces out, and heads for the door. He blames the tears in his eyes for running into someone so hard it knocks him back on his arse.  
  
Harry stares down at him, concerned. He bends down, a hand stretching in Niall’s direction, and Niall can’t stop his instinctive flinch, the terrified little noise that is almost a squeak.  
  
A warm weight presses against his back. “Hey,” Louis says, wrapping arms around him from behind. “Shh, it’s okay."  
  
Harry straightens, calmly, and Niall watches with wary eyes as he flips the sign over the door to “ _Closed_ ,” gesturing Anna the barista into the kitchen.   
  
“Niall,” he says gently, kneeling back down, “I promise we don’t think you’re bad. You didn’t do anything wrong.”  
  
Niall opens his mouth to protest, but Louis continues in his ear. “Okay, underage - _were_ you underage? Underage drinking is illegal, and maybe you did miss your curfew, but I promise you’re not ruined."  
  
“And you’re not unwanted,” Harry says, reaching to touch Louis’ knee like he knows he shouldn’t touch Niall but wanting to be connected to the two of them all the same. “We want you.” He must see Niall’s eyes widen at that because he adds quickly, “In a friendly way! We want you to be our friend!”  
  
“We value you,” Louis says in Niall’s ear, laughing at Harry trippingover himself. It’s rare, but not unheard of for an Alpha to have two omegas. It’s usually an indicator of wealth, and stability, and status. Harry could probably afford two omegas and a whole big family besides, but Niall gets the feeling that Harry and Louis are monogamous. Besides, Niall is nobody’s choice as a third.  
  
“We think - no, we _know_  you have worth.”  
  
“We love you, Niall. We love having you around.”  
  
They take him upstairs, and Harry leaves Louis and Niall curled up on the couch with blankets and hot chocolate. He kisses Louis before he leaves and, ever-so-slowly, telegraphing the movement, presses a kiss to Niall’s hair, touches him gently on the shoulder. Niall feels his eyes fill again at the unexpected kindness, and Louis hugs him as he sobs, curling up with him until the morning sun fades into late afternoon.  
  
*  
  
The Monday after Niall’s breakdown, he considers not calling in to the bakery for his morning cuppa, as has become his custom. But there’s a picture message waiting on his phone when he wakes up, a chocolate muffin and a waiting takeaway cup. Niall can still feel the hug Louis gave him at the door to the bakery when he left on Saturday afternoon, Harry folding them both into his long arms so very carefully, as if Niall was something precious. It was the first time in a long time Niall had been touched by an Alpha he wasn’t related to, and it wasn’t - it wasn’t like a bump in the schoolyard, an accidental brush, the crush of people on the tube. It was pleasant, and not scary at all. It felt good, safe, with no pressure.  
  
Niall is exactly on time that morning, and his tea is waiting for him. Louis slides it over the counter before he can even order, grinning at him.  
  
“See you at one,” Louis says.  
  
Harry sticks his head out of the kitchen. “Extra special lunch specials today!”  
  
Niall carries his good mood all the way into work, which is why he’s possibly less flustered than he should be when he has to deal with an irate Zayn Malik-Payne.  
  
Niall’s halfway through the morning post round when he gets chased down the hallway by one of the most beautiful omegas he’s ever seen. He’s not really paying attention at first, singing along under his breath to the Bruno Mars being piped into the corridor, and he only realises the voice he’s tuning out is talking to him when it says, _“Hey you! Blondie!”_  
  
Niall freezes. He knows who the man trying to get his attention is. He has the internet.  
  
“Hey,” Zayn Malik-Payne says, jogging towards him. “You’re from the mailroom, yeah?”  
  
“Yeah,” he replies. “I’m Niall.”  
  
“Hey Niall,” Zayn says, but his smile is sharp. “Anything on there for me?”  
  
“Um, no. I’ve already done the executive floor.”  
  
Zayn swears for a good twenty seconds. “Knew those bastards at Sony hadn’t sent it. Look, can you keep an eye out for a courier over from Sony today? I really need the hard copy they’re sending me.”  
  
“Will do sir,” Niall says, and Zayn’s smile softens at the title.  
  
“You don’t have to call me sir, Niall. My name’s Zayn.”  
  
“I’ll check as soon as I get back down there,” Niall promises.  
  
“Can you do it now? My whole department is waiting on it.”  
  
Niall can’t not say yes. Zayn is an executive at the company. He’s the bondmate and husband of Liam Payne of Payne Productions. He now knows why Zayn wins all those business omega awards, why the magazines that talk about Liam always mention Zayn. Not only is he gorgeous, he’s intelligent, and his bondmate treats him like an equal, let him hyphenate his name instead of just taking Liam's.  
  
Niall doesn’t really have the time to double back and do a search through recent deliveries if he’s going to stay on schedule, but he does it anyway. Sure enough, whatever Zayn’s waiting on hasn’t yet arrived, but he loses forty minutes searching. Between the doubling back and the wait to use the cargo elevator (there’s a company fitting out one of the new conference rooms, and the Betas working are pushy and impatient), Niall is nearly an hour behind once he gets back.  
  
He texts Louis, resolved to the fact he’s going to have to work through lunch.  
  
 _Won’t make it today. Have to work :(_    
  
Twenty minutes later, there’s a knock at the door, and two mischievous faces appear in the doorway.  
  
“Nialler!”  
  
Niall’s head snaps up at the familiar voice, and he pauses in his sorting. Louis and Harry are grinning at him. “What?”  
  
“You couldn’t come to lunch, so we brought lunch to you!” Harry is entirely too excited to be in the mailroom.  
  
“Taking care of our overworked Neil, we are,” Louis adds.  
  
Niall can’t manage to make words come out past the lump in his throat, so instead he throws himself at them. Well, he throws himself at Louis, really, but he stretches out a hand to Harry even as he’s being wrapped up in a hug. Harry’s obviously surprised by the fact that Niall’s initiating contact, but he carefully puts Niall’s lunch down, and hugs them both.  
  
“Thanks guys,” Niall says, and he hopes they know the thanks aren’t just for lunch.

*

The package from Sony arrives mid-afternoon, and the moment Marie’s signed for it, Niall’s headed to the executive floor. He even takes the proper lift, because the cargo one is full and he doesn’t want to wait.  
  
When he knocks on Zayn’s office door, a voice from inside calls him in, but it doesn’t sound like Zayn.  
  
As it turns out, it’s not. It’s Liam Payne. Niall stops momentarily on the threshold at the sight of his boss. _Everyone’s_ boss. There’s nothing improper about the way Liam’s seated opposite Zayn’s desk, but he pauses when they both look up at him, Liam craning his neck awkwardly to see who’s at the door.  
  
Niall gets over his lapse, only to arrive at Zayn’s desk and have another moment of panic. It’s Zayn’s package, but should he be giving it to Liam?  
  
The decision is taken out of his hands when Zayn stands to take the package out of his hands. “Yessss,” he hisses.  
  
Liam looks amused.  
  
“Li, this is Niall, my new favourite mailroom employee. He’s the one I was telling you about."  
  
“You didn’t tell me he was cute,” Liam says, smiling at Niall.  
  
Niall doesn’t quite know how to respond, so he just smiles awkwardly. “Um,” he says eventually, “if that’s all…”  
  
“Thanks Niall,” Zayn says, distracted by the contents of the package. “That’s all."  
  
*  
  
The next Saturday, Louis isn’t down for tea. He and Harry haven’t been in the bakery for the better part of a week, which Niall figured out two days in, blushing, means Louis is probably in heat. Niall, having only suffered through one heat himself in the six months before his abrupt move to London, doesn’t really know how long heat lasts, or how long it takes to recover, so goes about his routine and turns up anyway. He’s barely through the door before Anna is poking her head into the kitchen and yelling, “Niall’s here!”  
  
“Niall!” Harry says, emerging from the kitchen. He looks genuinely pleased to see him. “Louis is upstairs and won’t be coming down, but come through to the kitchen and sit! There’s even tea in here, I promise.”  
  
Harry and Niall are alone in the kitchen, and it’s all terribly improper, but Niall ignores the voice in his head telling him it’s this kind of behaviour that got him in trouble in the first place, and takes a stool at the main workbench.  
  
It’s very odd, watching an Alpha cook for you, but Niall almost forgets exactly what’s happening as he watches Harry at the hob, chatting away as he makes them up a full English. Every time he tries to help he’s pointed back to his seat.  
  
“So,” Harry says when he sits down to eat, “anything interesting happen this week?"

"Met my boss' bondmate," Niall says, after a moment. Nothing really interesting happened this week. Nothing interesting ever happens to him. "Don't think I messed it up too badly."

“Didn’t think Marie had a bondmate,” Harry says thoughtfully, as if it’s of importance, and Niall flushes.  
  
“No, I meant the big boss. The Alpha.”  
  
Harry eyes him speculatively. “You’re from a really traditional family, aren’t you?”  
  
“Is it that obvious?”  
  
“Yes,” Harry says honestly. “You called me Alpha the first time we spoke. You rarely touch anyone, and you’re automatically deferential to anyone you feel is higher in status than you.”  
  
“Which is most people,” Niall says. “Does that make - is it bad, the way I act?”  
  
“Not at all. You’ve got lovely manners,” Harry replies. “Always so polite.”   
  
Niall ducks his head at the praise, and Harry waits until he’s looking up again before he continues.  
  
“So,” he prompts, moving on, “your boss’ bondmate.”  
  
“Zayn Malik-Payne."  
  
“Oh, I love Zayn!” Harry says, and Niall can’t help but smile at his enthusiasm. “He’s just lovely, isn’t he?”  
  
Niall agrees, even though he found Zayn more intimidating than lovely, but the following week Zayn leaves for lunch at the same time as Niall, and spends a good half hour chatting with him once they reach the bakery, which does a roaring lunch trade thanks to PP employees. Louis comes out from behind the counter to give them both a hug, hustling them onto the free window couch so they can sit in the sun while they eat. For the first time in what feels like forever, Niall feels at peace, sandwiched between two omegas and their comforting scents, casual touches that feel like home.

*

The following Saturday, Louis hands him a takeaway cup when he arrives, prodding at Zayn, who’s looking half-asleep at the counter, coffee in hand.  
  
“Omegas day out!” Louis says brightly.  
  
Niall is hesitant, but soon discovers omegas day out involves nothing more than a bit of window-shopping, some _actual_  shopping, and a lot of wandering around in circles. Niall likes wandering.   
  
Louis and Zayn together are a force to be reckoned with, dragging Niall from shop to shop, sending him into change rooms with new button-downs, telling him he _has_  to buy a particular hoodie because it’s so soft.  
  
They’re entering the fifth shoe store in a row when they have to move aside in the doorway, giving way to a pair of pregnant omegas, round and beautiful and positively _glowing_  with life.  
  
“One day,” Louis says with a soft smile, watching the omegas as they walk away. “One day soon.”  
  
“You and Haz are trying, then?”   
  
Apparently this is normal omega conversation, because instead of being offended at the intrusion into his private life, Louis just shrugs. “Not yet. We’re not quite ready, either of us. Though,” he says with a wink, “we do enjoy practicing."  
  
Niall blushes.  
  
“Not for me,” Zayn says, and the three of them must look odd, staring after the pregnant omegas. They probably look jealous, breeders lusting after what they don’t currently have. At least, Niall knows he is. “I mean, maybe I want to be a father one day, but not a dam."  
  
“You, Nialler?” Zayn asks, and Niall finds he doesn’t mind the nickname from someone other than Louis. “Any squalling bundles of joy in your future?”  
  
Niall doesn’t have to think about it, a bondmate by his side and his belly slowly swelling with child, others underfoot. He’s dreamed of it every night for years. So he reveals more about himself than he ever has to Zayn when he says, “I used to want to. More than anything.”  
  
“What changed your mind?”  
  
“The mailroom!” Louis declares, obviously trying to move away from a topic he knows Niall will be sensitive about. “Oooh! Sparkles! Haz’d love these.”  
  
Zayn laughs. “You love your job at PP that much?"  
  
“I like the mailroom,” Niall says with a shrug. “It’s quiet, and I know what I’m doing.”  
  
“And you’re dedicated, too,” Louis says, though his focus is on the shoes in front of him. “Like that day you worked through lunch because of a mail emergency."  
  
“Are there many mail-related emergencies?” Zayn’s teasing him, now.  
  
“Only the Zayn-related ones,” Niall says. He’s not quite sure whether sassing your boss’ bondmate is wise, but it appears he’s just done it anyway.  
  
Zayn looks confused. “You worked through lunch because of me?”  
  
“Well,” Niall says awkwardly. “You did kind of ask me to.”  
  
“I didn’t, did I? Surely I’d remember that.”  
  
“The day you were waiting on that package from Sony, you asked me to go back down and check for it. I went through all the recent courier deliveries, then double-checked the overnight ones, then the regular intake list just in case they didn’t courier it over. Once I was done, I was running late.”  
  
“Oh,” Zayn says. “Um - thankyou. I didn’t realise when I asked that it’d take so long.”  
  
“It’s my job,” Niall says with a shrug. It’s not his dream job, because if he were to have one, it’d definitely be something else, but he’s good at what he does.  
  
“No, but seriously, what changed your mind? At… what, twenty? You just change your mind?”  
  
Niall can’t help but laugh, even though Zayn’s being nosy. “I’m seventeen,” he says. Even Louis looks surprised at that.   
  
“Shit,” Zayn says. “I thought you were older than that.”  
  
“I was kicked out just before I was seventeen because I mucked up really badly,” Niall says, and his voice is calm.  
  
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Louis says quietly. “You deserve everything, Ni. A bondmate, babies, whatever you want."  
  
“Maybe,” Niall says. “Maybe I’ve accepted that what I thought my life was going to be like isn’t going to work out. Maybe I’ve moved on. I have London now. And you guys. That’s enough.” As he says it, it feels like the truth. He’s resigned himself to the fact that he’s not going to have an Alpha and a brood of his own. But he’s making do, with his little life, here in London.  
  
Zayn lets the subject drop. But when they get smoothies, Zayn buys Niall’s, saying he owes him for being such a hard worker, a friendly arm slung around his shoulder.  
  
Louis makes them stop at a massage place, and he and Zayn get foot massages from a cranky-looking Asian omega who looks older than the three of them put together. She tells them jokes, and Niall declines the offer of a massage but sits back in one of the reclining chairs and closes his eyes, listening to Louis and Zayn bicker and breathing in the smell of the jasmine oil.  
  
Niall arrives home in a cloud of jasmine-scented happiness, warm feeling spreading all the way down to his toes, shopping bags in hand.  
  
“There’s a look that suits you,” Libby says as he makes his way through the front hall. Niall looks down at himself - jeans instead of work trousers, button-down, hoodie - and back up at her in confusion. She chuckles. “I meant you look happy, dearie.”  
  
“I am,” Niall says, and it feels like the truth.  
  
  
*  
  
Niall blames his sudden contentment for what happens the following week.  
  
He’s always been drawn to the studios at PP. He loves music. He used to sing, and play the guitar, imagining himself filling a happy home with music and laughter. These days all he has is his iPod, but he walks past the two instrument rooms every day, and through the glass cut-out in the door he can see racks and racks of instruments.  
  
On this particular day, the door to the guitar room is wide open, and Niall stops his cart.  
  
“Hello?” He looks cautiously into the open room, and gasps. There are more guitars in one place here than Niall has ever seen in his _life_ , racks upon racks of them. Before he realises, he’s stepped fully into the room, fingers tracing over the embellishment on a beautiful dark acoustic.  
  
“Hey there,” Niall whispers to the instrument as he picks it up, fingers moving automatically into place. “Oh! You sound Spanish. Are you Spanish?” He noodles away, fingers darting across the fretboard.  
  
He doesn’t know how long he stands there, the joy at playing again completely making him lose all sense. This isn’t something he’s lost. This is something he can have again, if he wants. Something he almost feels like he deserves.  
  
“Alex, is that you? Oh!”  
  
Niall doesn’t have to turn around to know he’s been caught. He closes his eyes momentarily, then gently, reverently, puts the guitar back in its place.  
  
“Please don’t fire me,” he says, turning around to face Zayn.  
  
“What? I’m not going to fire you,” Zayn says crossly.  
  
“Please don’t tell your Alpha, then,” he says. “I need this job."  
  
Zayn’s face softens. “You’re not really meant to be up here,” he says. “There’s a lot of valuable equipment up here.”  
  
“I know,” Niall says, ducking around Zayn so he’s back outside the room, back at his cart. “I won’t come up here again, I promise.”  
  
“You’re very good,” Zayn tells him, and turns to lock the door.  
  
Niall manages to catch the cargo elevator at the right floor, and is gone before Zayn finishes fiddling with the lock.  
  
*  
  
Two days pass, and Niall has just started to convince himself he’s not going to be fired when Liam Payne appears in the mailroom, just as Niall is about to go to lunch. He’s crooning along to Elvis, tidying his desk, when a young Alpha sweeps into the room and gives Marie a hug.  
  
“Y’alright, babe?” Mr. Payne says, and Marie laughs at him.  
  
“I’m far too old for anyone to call me _babe_ , young Liam,” she says.  
  
“Nonsense,” Mr. Payne says, with a conspiratorial wink at Niall.  
  
Niall doesn’t know how to respond. In the end, he settles for, “Is there something I can help you with, Mr. Payne?”  
  
“Yes,” Liam says with a smile, “You can call me Liam.”  
  
Niall hopes Liam’s just being friendly, and isn’t picking up on the interested vibes Niall is. “Okay,” he says.   
  
“In fact,” Liam says, “A little birdie told me that you usually take lunch at one. I’m free today - can I buy you lunch at the bakery?”  
  
This is so, so inappropriate. Liam is Bonded, and his _boss_  - oh God. Liam is his _boss._  Niall can’t say no.  
  
“Okay,” Niall repeats. Marie looks at him a little oddly as he gets his coat, fumbling to get it on. Liam reaches in to help, and ignores Niall’s instinctive flinch, settling it over his shoulders.  
  
Niall follows Liam silently out the door, down the corridor and out through the lobby. They turn left toward the bakery, and the silence is awful, but Liam doesn’t seem to notice, hands in his pockets as he walks, humming. Niall is struck by the realisation that once they _get to_  the bakery, he’s going to have to face Louis. Louis, who was so sure that Niall was wrong about himself, is going to have to face the fact that he’s obviously still giving off - _signals_. The kind of signals that have a married and Bonded Alpha wanting to buy him lunch.  
  
Louis isn’t at the counter when they enter, and Niall gives his order to Anna, relieved. Liam orders, and pays for the both of them, and they stand there until Liam sighs.  
  
“Do you, uh, want to sit while we wait?”  
  
Niall nods, and Liam leads the way to the nearest free table.  
  
They sit, and the silence between them is awkward in comparison to the cheery bustle of the bakery.  
  
“So,” Liam says, clearing his throat. “How do you like working at PP?”  
  
“It’s great,” Niall says quickly, not wanting to seem ungrateful. “I never expected to be able to work somewhere like your company. It’s great. The mailroom is-“  
  
“Great?” Liam finishes, smiling at him.  
  
Niall looks at the table. “You don’t have to make fun of me,” he says quietly.  
  
“No, hey,” Liam says, “I wasn’t - Niall, will you look at me?”  
  
It’s an order Niall is too well-mannered to ignore, and when he meets Liam’s eyes, he finds there’s a kind smile beaming in his direction. “I wasn’t making fun of you,” Liam says. “I wish all my employees had your enthusiasm about their jobs.”  
  
There’s a warm feeling in his chest at that, and Niall reminds himself that he’s Liam’s employee, that he works hard and is good at his job. That’s the only reason he gets the warmth of an Alpha’s praise.  
  
“So listen,” Liam continues, when it becomes clear Niall isn’t going to say anything, “Zayn and I were talking-“  
  
Oh God, he’s going to be fired. Zayn told Liam about Niall’s little escapade in the instrument room, and now he’s going to be fired. That’s why Liam invited him to get lunch. Somewhere out of the building, but public, so Niall couldn’t make a scene.  
  
“I’m sorry,” he says, trying to pre-empt Liam. Perhaps he can salvage this. “I know I shouldn’t have been touching the guitars, I just hadn’t held one in such a long time, see, and they’re all so beautiful. I won’t do it again, I promise. Please don’t fire me.”  
  
“Fire you?” Liam looks confused. “I’m not going to fire you, silly.” He smiles at Niall. "I don’t care that you were in the instrument room. Zayn said you were really good. You can go in there anytime you like, as long as the guitars aren’t needed in a studio.”  
  
“Really?” Niall can’t believe his ears.   
  
“Of course. Anytime.” He clears his throat, looking slightly awkward. “So, Zayn and I were talking, and I was thinking you should come over one night.”  
  
Niall freezes. Surely Liam’s not asking him to - he’s not implying - oh God. No wonder he’ll be allowed in the instrument room. Like - like _payment_.  
  
“Y’know,” Liam continues, “spend some time with us. I’d like that, having another omega around."  
  
Niall feels his cheeks go hot, and his eyes prickle.  “I - I have to go,” he says, standing in such a hurry he forgets to push his chair out first, tripping back into the table.  
  
Liam's hand catches his elbow, firm pressure almost making him cry even as it keeps him steady.  
  
"We haven't got our lunch yet," he says, confused. His voice is still kind, and Niall feels sick.  
  
"I'm not hungry," he manages. When Liam doesn't move, Niall shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath.  
  
Liam is staring at him when he opens his eyes.  
  
"Could you - could you please let go of me?" He keeps his voice polite, and his eyes down.  
  
Liam lets go as if burned. Niall is in such a hurry out the door he forgets to say thankyou.  
  
*  
  
Marie is sitting at her desk with her own lunch when Niall gets back to work. She looks up at his entrance, surprised. “I thought you were going to lunch?"  
  
“I don’t feel well,” Niall says, and Marie can obviously see the truth of that in his expression.  
  
“You go on home, dearie. Your sorting can wait until tomorrow.”  
  
“Thankyou,” Niall says, knees weak with relief. He doesn’t know what he’s going to do, he just knows he needs to leave the building.  
  
Niall tells himself that his eyes are stinging from the cold, hands fisted in the pockets of his jacket. He's _not_ crying over Liam Payne. He's _not_ bitterly disappointed that Liam is just like every Alpha he's ever known, selfish and entitled, thinking of Niall as nothing more than a piece of flesh. He can still feel where Liam touched him, as if he’d been branded by the Alpha, just seconds after Liam asked Niall to come to his house, so that he could _have another omega around._ Because one obviously isn’t enough for Alpha Liam Payne.  
  
And then there's Zayn. Beautiful, intelligent, omega Zayn, with a bondmate and a job, a whole company that respects him. He'd thought they were friends, but apparently it's really damn obvious how far beneath an omega like Zayn he is these days. perhaps his ruin really is visible. Maybe he really does give off signals, the kind that make Bonded Alphas ask him _around_ , like they know he’s sunk so low he’ll say yes, desperate for any Alpha attention he can get.  
  
Not for the first time, Niall wishes he hadn't gone out that night. He wishes he hadn't been foolish enough to fall asleep. He wishes his mother never left. He wishes he wasn't a miserable, worthless fuckup. He wishes he wasn't omega. He wishes, he wishes, he wishes.  
  
To Niall's enormous relief, Libby isn't home yet, and he's able to head straight to his room and bury himself under the covers.  
  
*  
  
Niall gets to work early the next morning. He’s not sure he still has a job, but he makes himself go in anyway to check. He skips the bakery, though, not wanting to face Louis, who will by now have heard what happened yesterday. How Niall, who he said was good and had _worth_ , is attracting lewd offers from Bonded Alphas. He’s in before Marie for once, so Niall can say with certainty that he’s the first to see there’s something on his desk.  
  
Warily, Niall crosses the mailroom to see that there’s a guitar case that’s gone unsorted. It should be in the pile for the studio floor, but instead it’s on his desk -  
  
And it has his name on it.  
  
 _Niall,_  it says on the front of a fancy looking envelope. Niall pokes it gingerly. When he opens it and slides out the thick, heavy card stock that usually means executive-level, he reads:

  
  
 _Niall,_  
  
 _Please accept this as a gesture of my sincerity. I am serious about my offer, and hope yourself, Zayn and I can spend some time together soon._  
  
 _\- Liam._

 

  
Niall has heard the term _seeing red_  before, but he’s never experienced it until now. He’s never felt so angry, so shamed, so _dirty_ , even when everyone he’d ever known was looking at him like he was dirt, saying he was ruined. He certainly feels like it now.  _Liam Payne_ wants to let Niall know he’s _serious about his offer_? His offer for to an unbonded, worthless, unwanted omega, to go to his house and _be around_?  
  
Niall is furious, and so very, very disappointed. Disappointed in himself, but also disappointed in Liam, in London, in this new life Niall had built for himself that had started to give him the hope that he could be happy. That he _deserved_ to be happy. He can feel the anger underneath his skin as he marches to the proper elevator, knows he’s going to have to keep his emotions under tight control to avoid doing something unthinkable, like yelling at Liam. Or smashing the guitar over his head.   
  
Nobody is calling the elevator this time of morning, so Niall rides to the executive floor in silence.  
  
“I’m here to see Mr. Payne,” he tells the receptionist politely. She signs for Liam’s mail every day, gives Niall a smile and a mint from her desk. They’re friendly. So she just waves him in.  
  
Niall knocks on the door, ever-polite, and waits a moment before opening it. Liam looks up, and is momentarily surprised to see him, before he notices the case in Niall’s hand.  
  
“Niall,” he says with a smile, standing to greet him.  
  
Niall steps up to the other side of the massive wooden desk. “I came to give this back to you,” he says, gripping the guitar case in two hands.  
  
Liam looks confused. “Don’t you like it?"  
  
“Do - do I _like_?” The words are thick in Niall’s throat, and he can feel his eyes prickle. Damnit, he will not cry. Not here. Not in front of this Alpha. He puts the case down on Liam’s giant desk with less care than it deserves. Probably. He couldn’t bring himself to open it, to see how much his ruin was worth.   
  
“I don’t want it,” Niall says firmly, determined to get the words out even though he has to force them. “I may be ruined and worthless and - and unwanted, but I’m not _that_  kind of omega, okay? I won’t be your - your _whore_.”  
  
Liam is speechless, mouth open as if in shock. Niall supposes people don’t say no to him often. Especially young, unbonded omegas with no prospects.  
  
“Niall-“ Liam manages eventually, but Niall is already at the door.  
  
He almost runs into Zayn in the hallway outside Liam’s office. Instead, he comes to an awkward stop to avoid running into the other omega.  
  
“Niall?” Zayn’s voice is kind, concerned, and he reaches out a hand.  
  
“Don’t touch me!” Niall’s voice is high, and he bats away Zayn’s hand. The two omegas stare at each other for a moment, before Niall looks down, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “I thought you were different,” he says quietly. "I wanted so badly for you to be different."  
  
Niall doesn’t bother going back to the mailroom.

There’s nothing left for him there anymore.


	2. sanctuary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Niall just wants to curl up into a ball and never move again, so that’s what he does. He thought he was finding a place for himself, until it all came crashing down around his ears. Once again, Niall's proven right everyone who said he was a sinner, that he was a ruined omega with no prospects. He walked out on his job, and can't face the thought of what Harry and Louis must think of him now. He's fallen so far, and even though he never - even though he never let himself be _tainted_ , the world seems able to see his shame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter than the last chapter. The last will be up in a couple of days. Still un-beta'd.

 * 

Niall doesn’t go back to Payne Productions.  
  
He finds he can’t make himself get out of bed. He tells Libby he quit his job, even though he never actually handed in notice, just walked out, but he still has savings so he’s not that worried about paying rent. Not for a while. Libby doesn’t pry, doesn’t judge, just lets him wallow, staring at the ceiling, sleeping the day away, sobbing into his pillow more often than not.   
  
Niall just wants to curl up into a ball and never move again, so that’s what he does, only emerging occasionally for food and showers and fresh pyjamas. He thought he was doing so _well,_  building a life for himself here in London, but it seems he doesn’t deserve even that.  
  
Libby, who’s mostly left him alone for the past few days, knocks on his door one afternoon, about a week into Niall’s complete and utter failure to manage to drag himself out of his funk.   
  
“There’s people here to talk to you,” she says. “Should I let them in?”  
  
“No,” Niall says. “Please don’t.” He doesn’t know that many people in London - it’s either Liam come looking for his former employee and wanting answers and chasing him to _be around_ , or Harry and Louis come to say he’s not welcome at the bakery anymore. Niall doesn’t know how he’ll face either. The very thought makes him ill.  
  
“They seem awfully concerned about you,” Libby says. “The omega is very insistent. His Alpha looks to have brought you half a pastry case.”  
  
_A pastry case_ \- that can only be Harry and Louis. Niall feels a flutter of something like hope. “They didn’t seem mad?”  
  
“Worried. Not mad.”  
  
Niall sighs and sits up. At least this way he’ll know. “Okay,” he says, voice small. “I’ll be down in just a second."  
  
Barely a minute passes, Niall still screwing up the courage to get out of bed, when there’s the sound of feet on the stairs, and his bedroom door flies open. Louis launches himself at Niall, knocking him flat and giving him the tightest hug he’s had in his life.   
  
Louis pulls back slightly so he can punch Niall in the shoulder.  
  
“Ow!”  
  
Louis buries his head in Niall’s chest again. “I was so worried about you, you arse. Anna said you’d come for lunch with Liam and run out of there like he’d lit you on fire. And then you didn’t come back for _days_ , so we went to your work but Marie said you hadn’t been in.”  
  
“I don’t think I work there anymore.” He's trying to be flippant.  
  
“I’m sure you still have a job if you want it,” Louis says, still snuggled into Niall’s chest. Niall is carding his fingers through Louis’ hair - the instinctual kind of closeness between omegas that Niall has missed so much. It’s natural, with Louis, and Niall is starting to think that maybe he hasn’t lost Louis’ friendship after all. He’ll still have to explain, though, tell Louis everything.  
  
“I can’t go back,” Niall says. “Not now. Not after what happened with Liam.”  
  
“I’ve talked to Liam,” Louis says carefully. “And Zayn.” He raises his head so he can look Niall in the eye. "But I’d like to hear what happened from you.”  
  
Niall takes a moment to prepare himself, and Louis uses the time to shift around and get himself settled in the bed next to Niall, lying on his side with his head on Niall’s pillow.  
  
“I don’t want you to think the worst of me,” Niall says around the lump forming in his throat. “You and Harry said all those lovely things, and I started to believe you, but I think I might really be not good. Y’know, _inside_.”  
  
Niall had, like the good Catholic he was, confessed after his first heat. The priest had explained to Niall, voice low and apologetic, that he had gravely sinned. He had felt the heat of the fires of hell, and he had succumbed, had touched himself in a fruitless attempt to slake his desire. He had given in to lust, and there was no going back. Niall has to make Louis understand, now, exactly who Niall is.  
  
“I must be bad,” Niall says. Louis just hums in response, eyes serious.  
  
“Other people can tell,” Niall says. “There was a man on the tube who could. He said he could see how much I wanted it. Wanted an Alpha’s attention.”  
  
“You can’t listen to arseholes on the tube,” Louis says dismissively, “seriously, Niall-“  
  
“Liam could tell,” Niall says quietly. “He said - he said he wanted me at - at his house. That he’d like another omega _around_ , and when I ran out, he give me an expensive guitar. Said that it meant he was _sincere_  about his offer. Like he thought - like he thought he could buy me. Then when I went to give it back, he was so shocked I said no. Like it didn’t even occur to him that someone with no prospects _could_.”  
  
Niall swipes at the tears threatening to slip down his face. It seems like all he’s done for the last week is cry.  
  
“Oh Ni,” Louis says, and this time he pulls Niall into his chest, doesn’t seem to mind the way Niall snuffles into his shoulder. “I always knew Liam was a bit of a clot when it comes to relationships, but I didn’t think he was quite this thick.” His small hands rub soothing circles on Niall’s back. “I promise you’re not bad inside. Attraction is a natural part of life, and you’re a very cute little thing. people finding you attractive doesn’t mean you’re giving off freaky wanton signals or something. You’re not a sinner, Ni. You’re a good person.”  
  
“But Liam-“  
  
“He’s an idiot, I told you. But I don’t think he meant to offend you. He definitely did wrong, though. He knows that now,” Louis says smugly. “We set him straight.”  
  
“ _We_?"  
  
“Haz was furious,” Louis says. “You should’ve seen him, Ni. I don’t think I’ve heard him yell at anyone the way he went off at Liam. He marched right up to his office to give him a piece of his mind. _Nobody_ has the right to make our Niall feel worthless."  
  
Louis has just professed so much love, so casually. He sounds like he _believes_  the things he’s saying about Niall, too, but there’s one thing that’s sticking in his brain. “You really think of me as yours?”  
  
“You’re family now, Ni. The bakery’s not the same without you around.” He presses a kiss to Niall’s temple.   
  
“C’mon, blondie. We can’t laze around all day. Haz is downstairs waiting to give you hugs too.”  
  
Louis pokes Niall until he laughs and makes a move out of bed. It doesn’t occur to him until he’s pulling on a hoodie that his throat is bare. He’s too exhausted to freak out about the fact that Louis saw him so exposed, just makes sure he zips the hoodie up all the way before he follows Louis downstairs.  
  
"There's a nice young Alpha in the garden waiting to talk to you," Libby says when he enters the kitchen. “He makes a wonderful chocolate tart. I do think he's one of the good ones, dearie."   
  
"He is," Niall says. "He's the best Alpha I know."  
  
"I wouldn't settle for any less," Louis says, from where he's hunting for tea bags in their cupboards. "Go on, Ni. I promise you're going to like what he has to say.”  
  
*  
  
Harry is sitting on Libby’s back step, looking out on the tangled garden. Libby’s not really much of a gardener. Niall hesitates, but sits down next to him, tucking his hands under his knees.  
  
They sit silently for a moment, enjoying the afternoon sun, before Harry says quietly, “I want you to know that I’ll never do anything to hurt you, Niall.”  
  
Of all the things Niall was expecting Harry to say, that really wasn’t one of them.  
  
“I’ll do all I can to make sure you’re safe, that people treat you right. Lou and I think of you as family, we really do.”  
  
Niall’s very conscious of the fact that they’re not looking at each other while Harry talks. He thinks Harry’s trying not to make him uncomfortable.  
  
"I spoke to Liam," Harry says. “Proper yelled at him, too. I don’t think he meant to imply - y’know, what you think he did, but he made you feel awful, and that’s not on. Lou’s making it his personal responsibility to make sure that nobody ever makes you feel like that again.”  
  
Niall has done enough crying today, but this is _ridiculous_. He’s never had people say such nice things to him before. The thing about Harry and Louis is that they are so damn  _sincere._  
  
“Hey!” Harry says, wrapping an arm around Niall and pulling him into his side. “None of that, thankyou.” He smells so _good_  that Niall forgets how inappropriate it is to be snuggled up to a Bonded Alpha - Harry’s scent is a combination of Louis and the bakery, warm and familiar.  
  
“You, young Nialler, bring out my mate’s protective instincts. He went a bit mad this week, when you didn’t come in and wouldn’t answer your phone.”  
  
“Sorry.”  
  
“No, I’m not fishing for apologies. I’m just explaining how much easier you’ll make my life if you come in to the bakery more often. Like, every day.”  
  
“I do,” Niall starts, before remembering he doesn’t go to work at payne productions anymore. “I _used_ to come in every day."  
  
“Well, I’d like it if you _kept_ coming in every day. As in, to work.” Harry stands with a flourish, giving Niall a funny little bow. “I’d like to offer you a job at _Quiche-_ _22_." He grins down at Niall. “Anna’s leaving us in a few weeks when she graduates, and I need someone else to help Louis out. I could pull someone from one of the other bakeries, but everyone seems pretty happy where they are, and, well, I think you could learn to make a great coffee.”  
  
Niall just looks up at Harry, who by now is starting to look uncertain at his silence.  
  
“Good pay? Lots of hugs? All the free tea you can drink?” Harry tries.  
  
“You really the nicest Alpha I’ve ever met,” Niall says, smiling. The familiar warmth he’s beginning to associate with Harry-and-Louis is spreading from his heart all the way down to his toes.  
  
Harry actually pumps his fist in the air at that, obviously taking that as victory. “Lou! He’ll do it!"  
  
Something occurs to Niall as he follows Harry back inside. “Wait, did you say you have _other_  bakeries?”  
  
“He has sixteen!” Louis calls from inside. “And they all have stupid names!”  
  
“Heeeey,” Harry says, but Louis just kisses his pout and looks at Niall.  
  
“Seriously, that’s how we met. I was working at a bakery in Doncaster when Harry bought the business and added it to his little collection. Renamed it _Empire of the Bun,_ and fell madly in love with the shift manager.”  
  
“It was the sass,” Harry says seriously. “I couldn’t resist.”  
  
Libby coos at the picture the two of them make, and Niall can’t help smiling so widely his face hurts.  
  
*  
  
Niall’s never been a coffee drinker.  
  
He was always raised to believe delicate omega constitutions and stimulants shouldn’t mix. He has no idea whether that’s actually a thing, or whether it’s  _quaint Irish traditional thinking_ , as Louis describes it. Niall finds he doesn’t really like the taste of coffee, though, so isn’t that interested in drinking more after his first sip.  
  
Anna is a patient teacher, warm and funny, and Niall picks up the basics of being a barista fairly easily. She leaves the machine (Model BS1E - Niall calls the machine Bessie in his head, and talks to her under his breath as he goes about his barista-ing) in what she describes as his _capable hands_  just two weeks after Niall starts, and he’s constantly aware of how lucky he is to be where he is, to have found another job, a good job. He doesn’t even have to wear proper trousers and sweaters anymore, because Harry seems to like his hoodie collection and Louis says he looks nice in jeans.  
  
Niall spends his days behind the counter, safe and wanted. Harry and Louis' place has become his own personal sanctuary, as if none of the concerns of the outside world can touch him. He smiles as he listens to Louis sing along to the radio while he’s stocking the cases and cleaning tables, sitting behind the register and doing the orders because he’s the self-declared brains of the operation. Harry is a great boss, full of praise, always fixing something for Niall to eat and asking for nothing in return but the coffee he seems to mainline. It’s frothy, flavoured coffee, though, all syrup and sugar, so Niall’s not sure it really counts as actual _coffee_. The two of them seem to genuinely like having him around.  
  
*  
  
Niall knows Louis and Zayn still talk, though he’s largely avoided the other omega since he stopped working at Payne Productions.  
  
It’s just his luck that on the day when Zayn comes in for lunch, Louis is up north with Harry, visiting their families. There’s a sweet Beta from another bakery covering Louis, but he’s off on break when Zayn comes in.  
  
Niall puts on his best bakery-smile, the one that says _I’m here to take your order and then your money but I’m definitely just being polite and am NOT interested_ , and says, “Welcome to Quiche- _22._  What can I get for you today?”  
  
“Um,” Zayn says.  
  
Niall waits politely, smile still in place.  
  
“Um, can I get two of the ham and salad croissants, please? And a large takeaway double-shot cappuccino?”  
  
“That’ll be twelve-fifty,” Niall says, ringing it up. He pretends not to notice the way Zayn’s hand brushes his when the other omega takes his change. He takes two croissants out of the case and slides them onto takeaway plates and into bags, and hands them over.  
  
Zayn takes the food awkwardly, as if not sure what to do while Niall steps behind Bessie.   
  
Niall thinks he’s doing quite well, being really polite and professional and successfully fighting the urge to apologise to Zayn for being the kind of omega Bonded Alphas chase. Louis had told him vehemently and repeatedly that he’d done nothing wrong, though, so perhaps it’s not him that needs to apologise.  
  
That doesn’t mean, however, that Niall’s entirely ready for Zayn to say quietly, “I’m really sorry about everything that happened.”  
  
Niall promptly loses his grip on the takeaway cup he’s holding out to Zayn. Neither of them are quick enough to catch it, and it splatters all over the collection counter.  
  
“Shit,” Niall says, fumbling for his rag.  
  
Zayn lets out a startled laugh.  
  
“I’m glad to see you find my clumsiness so hilarious,” Niall mutters, defensive. He can feel his cheeks burning as he turns back to Bessie to remake the beverage he ruined.  
  
“I’ve just never heard you swear before,” Zayn says, wiping at where the coffee has splattered on his (probably terribly expensive) suit jacket.  
  
“I don’t normally,” Niall says hotly. He blames Louis. Louis swears all the time, he’s a terrible influence. Harry thinks it’s cute.  
  
“Right,” Zayn says, and waits in silence for Niall to finish. When he slides the new drink over the counter, though, Zayn opens his mouth to say, “So, Liam was wondering if it would be okay if he came in to the bakery one day? To apologise?”  
  
Niall stares at the other omega for far too long.  
  
“If it’s not, just say so, and we won’t bother you again-"  
  
“Wait,” Niall says. “Your Alpha wants to apologise? To me?”  
  
“He feels terrible about what happened,” Zayn tells him. “He told me what you said, about thinking he was trying to, uh, buy your affections? That wasn’t what he meant at all, I swear, and he’d really like to apologise in person."  
  
Niall does his best fish impression, mouth opening and closing soundlessly.  
  
“Okay,” he manages eventually. “I guess that would be okay."  
  
*  
  
Liam comes into the bakery three days later. Harry and Louis aren’t back yet, so there’s no-one to look oddly at him when he ducks into the kitchen to hide. Harry’s apprentices just give him cookies and don’t ask him why he spends the next twenty minutes watching them do afternoon prep.  
  
The next time Liam ventures into the bakery, however, Harry and Louis _are_  back, so Louis _does_  look at him strangely when he retreats into Harry’s domain. Harry doesn’t think anything of it until Louis announces Liam is gone, and drags him back out to make coffees.  
  
The pattern continues for a couple of days, but every time Liam sees Niall isn’t behind the counter, he leaves without buying anything, which is just bizarre. Almost like the Alpha is coming into the bakery _only_  to see Niall. Louis and Harry seem to have reached a silent agreement not to mention Niall’s strange behaviour, though Louis rolls his eyes every time it happens, and Harry sighs. Niall feels awful when Harry sighs, like he’s disappointed the Alpha. It’s somehow worse than disappointing his Da ever was. Harry’s done so much for him, been so kind.  
  
One day when Niall is hovering in the kitchen, Harry gives him a chocolate tart and takes him to sit outside the back door, in the little alleyway. They sit on overturned milk crates and eat tarts until Harry says, “I don’t want to tell you what to do, Niall, but I think you should let Liam try to apologise. And if not, you should tell him why.”  
  
Niall picks at his tart, appetite lost.  
  
“I don’t think he meant to hurt you like he did.”  
  
Niall’s wasting the flaky pastry, and it’s mostly all over his lap now.  
  
There’s a moment of silence before Harry continues, “Back in Ireland, where you’re from, how would someone declare their intentions to another? For example, if I was interested in you - don’t look so panicked, Nialler, this is purely hypothetical - how would I go about courting you?”  
  
Niall doesn’t have to think about it. _Everyone_  knows how courting works.  
  
“If you were interested in courting me,” he begins, “which is highly unlikely, because everyone in town knows that I don’t have the reputation for it anymore, you’d talk to my Da, who’s my Familial Alpha, and get his permission. If you got his permission, we’d have, y’know, meetings. With a chaperone, and if you thought I’d be a good omega and a credit to your house, you’d ask his permission to bond.”  
  
Harry is silent after that, so Niall adds, “And then we’d bond.”  
  
“Things are a bit different here,” Harry says eventually.  
  
“I know,” Niall says crossly. “I’m not stupid. Where I’m from is really traditional in comparison, but there’s still proper ways of doing things.”  
  
“I think - ah.” Harry seems to be struggling with what to say next, his own pastry forgotten. “So, hypothetically, if I - as an Alpha, were interested in you, if I was unbonded or if Louis and I were interested in a third, and I wanted to court you, I’d talk to you about it.”  
  
“To _me_?”  
  
“I’d talk to you, tell you I wanted to get to know you better, tell you I was interested in courting you."  
  
It hits Niall, suddenly, what Harry’s trying to say.   
  
He feels ill.  
  
“You mean-"  
  
“I honestly think Liam was trying to say he and Zayn want to get to know you, that they want to court you.”  
  
“ _Wanted_ ,” Niall corrects absently, thoughts whirling. If what Harry is saying is correct - and Niall’s not sure that it is - there’s no way that Liam and Zayn would be interested in courting him now. Because if what Harry is saying is true, then Niall not only misunderstood, but was incredibly rude. He’d given back - _wait_.  
  
“But he tried to _pay_ me,” Niall says, thinking of the expensive guitar he’d given back to Liam before walking out of Payne Productions for good.  
  
“Ah.” Harry actually winces. “In some traditional families, it’s custom for the party seeking a courtship to give the other person a gift, to prove good intentions and that you can afford to court and provide for them. I tried to give Lou a house, back when we were first courting, made a right hash of it, actually - but I think Liam also wanted to give you a guitar because he knew he’d offended you, that day you had lunch. I think he thought it would make you happy.”  
  
“It really, really didn’t.”  
  
“I know.”  
  
Niall wonders if this conversation has been as awkward for Harry as it has for him. He feels like such an idiot. A provincial, naive little idiot.  
  
“How come you know so much about how the world works, and I just - _don’t_?” He asks, bitterness coming through in his voice. “Is it because you’re Alpha and I’m just a stupid little omega?”  
  
“You’re not stupid,” Harry says gently. “You were just raised differently. I’m guessing - I’m guessing you come from a really small town, huh? I did too. A _tiny_  one, up north. I thought I had to make a big grand declaration of intent to Louis, so I bought his Mum a house. It’s different for everyone, but communication is universally important. Liam messed that part up, but I think it’s admirable that he tried, that he thought highly enough of you to talk to  _you_  about it.”  
  
“I guess,” Niall says. He feels miserable.  
  
“We should make gingerbread,” Harry declares.  
  
“Gingerbread?”  
  
“It always makes me feel better. Makes everything smell like Christmas.”  
  
Niall laughs, and proceeds to spend the next hour in the kitchen with Harry, learning to make gingerbread.  
  
That afternoon, after the lunch rush is over, Louis ducks out for half an hour and comes back with a heavy tote.  
  
“For you,” he declares, plonking it on the counter. “Because I love you, and want you to have answers to all the questions you’ve ever been too afraid to ask.”  
  
Cautiously, Niall peeks inside the tote bag, which is full of books. _Sex_  books. Niall promptly flushes all the way up to his _hair_ , and stashes the bag under the counter.  
  
  
*  
  
It takes Niall the better part of a week to work up the courage to open one of his new books. The pile ranges from the embarrassing  _(Courting for Dummies, So You’re an Omega, What Now?,_  and _Our Bodies, Ourselves)_ to the truly terrifying ( _Animal is Natural: Unleash Your Inner Beast!,_  and  _How to Enjoy Better Sex_ : _Things Every Omega Should Know_ ).  
  
Niall finally cracks the spine of  _So You’re an Omega, What Now?_  one night, the door to his room locked and curtains pulled shut.  
  
Several times, he has to close the book, face flaming, eyes squeezed shut in embarrassment. Surely - people don’t just _talk_  about these things, do they? But, eventually, he calms down enough to open the book again, as if that now his curiosity has been piqued, he isn’t able to stop reading, to stop _learning_.   
  
Niall reads about how scent is natural, and important in meeting potential bondmates. There’s a whole section on how there’s no such thing as a _wanton_  scent, about how nobody should be the subject of unwanted attention. pheromones are apparently powerful things, but, outside of an omega’s heat, aren't powerful enough to actually attract an Alpha’s attention in a way that the Alpha can’t control themselves.   
  
It takes Niall three hours to get through the section on - on _masturbation_ , because he keeps having to stop, embarrassed even though no-one can see him. He’s only ever touched himself once, and he only tried to find some relief, he didn’t touch himself -   _there._  He didn’t even think about it, so sure that he was dying from unnatural lust - feeling the wetness between his legs that he’d always known was shameful, the thick, clear liquid trailing down his thighs and making the bedding damp, as if his very body was crying at the sin of it.  
  
He feels like such a fool. Embarrassed and angry, he tucks the book away, having learned enough for now, he thinks.  
  
*  
  
The next time Liam enters the bakery, Niall stays behind the counter, even though it’s early morning and he could get away with abandoning Louis to wrangle Bessie. He bites his lip nervously as Louis takes the order, focusing on the messy print of his writing as he goes about making Liam’s latte. When he goes to slide it over the counter, though, Liam is staring at him guiltily.  
  
“I’m really sorry for offending you, Niall,” he says slowly, deliberately. It sounds almost rehearsed. “I didn’t mean to imply you were anything less than an honourable omega. I don’t think you’re worthless, or that you have no prospects, and I certainly don’t think you’re a - that someone could buy your - you know. I knew I’d offended you somehow when we went to lunch that day, and that’s why I bought the guitar. Zayn said you were really good, and I wanted to let you know that I was sorry, that Zayn and I were interested in being friends with you. The two of us, I mean. I know now you’re not used to spending time with Alphas you’re not related to, and I’m really sorry.” He takes a deep breath. “Can you forgive me?”  
  
Niall just stares at the Alpha who is currently looking like a kicked puppy. The Alpha who just apologised to him.  
  
Liam nods, once, and takes his coffee.  
  
“Wait!” Niall says, as Liam turns to leave. He’s really, really not sure about what he’s going to say next until he sees the way Liam’s face has gone all hopeful. As if what Niall has to say really has the power to change his mood.  
  
“I - I forgive you,” Niall says, and just like that, Liam’s face lights up.  
  
“Thankyou,” he breathes. “I really am so, so sorry Niall. And - if it’s okay, could I start coming in here for lunch again?”  
  
“Um,” Niall says. “Sure."  
  
*  
Louis has been cranky all day, complaining that the day is crawling by. He’d apologised early on, explaining to an embarrassed Niall that he’s a day out from his bi-annual heat -  _nothing to blush about, Nialler, one day you’ll come off those awful suppressants and experience this perfectly natural, ridiculously enjoyable and exhausting biological quirk_  - and as a result, is feeling the effects of pre-heat. Niall read about pre-heat in one of the books Louis gave him, so he knows to make sure he drinks lots of water because he’s not going to be hungry, his body preparing itself for heat.  
  
Every time Louis gets back to the stool Niall moved from the kitchen to behind the register so Louis can rest up, there’s a fresh glass of icy water waiting for him. Niall is an icy water _ninja_. He makes sure to fill the glass every time Louis goes to clear tables. Harry, who’s spent a good part of the day making sure their flat is prepped so they won’t have to leave it over the next few days, gives Niall grateful looks. This close to heat, Louis is snappingat Harry, but Niall just makes puppy-dog eyes at Louis and he drinks the water waiting for him, even though he bitches about having to pee every two seconds. (Niall knows that’s not true, though. He read that Louis is actually retaining the water, as his body gets ready. pre-heat actually doesn’t sound all that scary anymore.)  
  
It’s late afternoon, and Niall is making a fresh latte for their one of only two customers in the bakery when it happens.  
  
Louis is wiping down a nearby table when the Alpha waiting for the latte catches his arm.  
  
“Is that yummy smell _you_ , blue-eyes?”  
  
“No,” Louis says, gritting his teeth and attempting to pull away.  
  
Niall freezes. He knows Harry is upstairs in the flat, not in the kitchen within yelling distance. He looks around wildly, but the bakery is empty except for an elderly lady sipping tea in the corner, and the apprentice bakers have gone home for the day.  
  
“Oh,” the man chuckles. “I think it is. Broadcasting your need like a good little bitch."  
  
“Get out,” Niall says firmly, knuckles going white on the milk jug as he ducks out from behind the counter. “He’s Bonded, and his mate is just upstairs.”  
  
“What about you, pretty?” The man leers at Niall. “You look plenty ripe. Maybe it’s you I can smell, eh?” He leans closer to Niall and sniffs, loudly. Niall flinches at the lewd gesture, but the Alpha’s grip on Louis’ wrist loosens enough for the older omega to wrench himself out of the man’s clutches.  
  
“Get  _out_ ,” Louis says, pointing to the door, “before we throw you out.”  
  
“Now, now, little breeder, no need to get those panties in a twist-“  
  
Niall has had enough.   
  
_Nobody_  gets to talk to Louis like that.   
  
He can feel his anger rising, the very emotion he was always taught a good omega didn’t have. But his friend, no - his  _family_  is being threatened. Louis is a good, respectable, Bonded omega who doesn’t deserve to be talked to like he’s just - just a hole to be bred. Like he's  _nothing -_  
  
The Alpha howls, and Niall realises after the fact that he’s just thrown the milk jug at the Alpha.  
  
The milk jug that is full of milk. The milk jug that is full of hot, just-frothed milk that was heated to 65 degrees or so.   
  
Oh God. He’s going to be arrested. He just  _attacked an Alpha_.   
  
“Out!” Niall says, hoping the man can’t hear the tremble in his voice.  
  
To his immense surprise, the furious man retreats, clutching his face as he hurries out into the street.  
  
“And don’t come back!” Louis shouts after him, slamming the bakery door and flippingthe sign to  _Closed_  even though there’s still twenty minutes left of their usual trading hours.  
  
“Lou?” Harry appears in the doorway that leads up to their flat. “Are you-"  
  
Harry takes in the overturned chair, the milk everywhere, the closed door, and the way Niall is frozen. “Is everything alright?”  
  
“Some complete perv got a bit grabby,” Louis says lightly.  
  
Harry’s at Louis’ side in an instant, checking him over, making a pained noise at the bruising already starting to come in around his wrist.  
  
“I’m fine,” Louis says gently, though he pulls Harry in close, scenting him. “Niall dealt with the arse. Ran him off."  
  
Niall sits down heavily in the nearest chair.   
  
He just stood up to, and attacked an Alpha. One apologised to him earlier in the week, and Louis has him reading _sex books_.   
  
This whole week is just - _bizarre_.  
  
Niall says as much, when Harry removes his nose from Louis’ throat and asks if he’s okay. Harry just laughs, and gives him a hug.  
  
“Proud of you, Nialler,” he says fiercely. “Sticking up for yourself like that.”  
  
“Wasn’t sticking up for _me_ ,” Niall says. “I was sticking up for _Louis_.”  
  
“Still,” Harry says. “You stood up to an Alpha.”  
  
“Attacked him, even,” Louis says, and he looks - _proud?_  
  
“Oh,” Niall says, frowning. “That just kind of happened. Am I going to get arrested?”  
  
“You defended my mate, who was the subject of unwanted attention while he was still on his own property. Pretty sure you’re fine.”  
  
“And if not, we’ll hire you a fancy lawyer,” Louis says cheerfully, ruffling his hair. “Seriously, Ni, you’ll be fine. You threw milk at him. Not exactly a capital crime."  
  
“He deserved it,” Niall decides.


	3. home

Zayn and Liam start coming in to the bakery for lunch, both together and separately.  
  
Liam smiles at Niall now, and makes polite conversation while he waits for his coffee. The more they talk, the worse Niall feels about the things he thought Liam capable of. Liam seems - well, Liam seems perfect really. He seems like a good, caring Alpha, like Harry, even if he does have the amusing habit of placing his foot squarely in his mouth sometimes.  
  
Zayn joins Louis and Niall on another Omega’s Day Out, though they only last two hours before Louis declares himself exhausted and drags the two of them back to his apartment for rom-coms and popcorn, the three of them curling up on the couch in a sleepy pile.  
  
Harry comes upstairs once the bakery’s closed, and makes them sandwiches and soup before retreating to his office. Liam turns up a few hours later, arms laden with Chinese takeaway, and Niall is surprised to learn the three of them have managed to laze the day away.  
  
The five of them eat Chinese in Harry and Louis’ living room, trading cartons so that everyone gets some of what they want, Harry and Louis squabbling over the last of the black bean sauce even though everyone knows Harry will give it to Louis regardless. The dinner table in the apartment only seats four, so Harry and Liam had simply brought the food and the plates into the living room. They’re still a seat short, and Niall is just about to get to his feet to offer his when Liam plops himself down on the floor, leaning against Zayn’s legs and giving Niall an easy smile. Harry claims the armchair at the other end of couch, and it’s easy, comfortable.  
  
Liam and Zayn insist on driving Niall home, and he’s content and full in the backseat, humming along to whatever’s on the radio until Liam turns it down abruptly.  
  
“What’s that you’re humming?”  
  
“What?” Niall sits up straight, then flushes as he realises what Liam’s said. “Oh. Um, nothing. I was just humming along.”  
  
“No you weren’t,” Liam says, trading a glance with Zayn that Niall can’t decipher. “That was a whole different melody line.”  
  
“I was just humming along,” Niall says, feeling oddly defensive.  
  
“No,” Zayn says, twisting in his seat so he can look at Niall properly. “It was really good. What’s it from?”  
  
“Oh. I was just making it up, I guess.”  
  
“Well it was good,” Liam says, and Niall feels his face heat, and has to look out the window so they won’t see him flush at the praise.  
  
“Thanks,” he says.  
  
*  
  
A week later, Liam comes to the bakery for lunch with a guitar case in his hand.   
  
Niall’s friendly smile fades from his face at the familiar case. He can’t help but think of how awful he felt the last time he was looking at it, but forces his gaze up to Liam’s face, instead.  
  
“Hi,” Liam says hesitantly. “I know it didn’t go so well the last time I tried to give you a gift, but I thought I’d try again.” He gestures to the guitar. “Zayn and I picked this out for you, and it doesn’t seem right for anyone else to have it.” He lifts it onto Niall’s collection counter, and smiles. “No pressure, I promise. We just want you to have it.”  
  
Niall swallows. There’s no harm in accepting a gift from someone, surely. Not now he knows that’s all it is. “Okay,” he says. “Um, thanks.”  
  
“Go on then,” Liam says gently. “I want to see what you think!”  
  
“Oh. Okay.” Niall pops the case latches and carefully opens the lid. He’s not sure exactly how someone would describe the sound he makes when he sees what’s inside.  
  
“Liam,” he says. “This can’t-“  
  
“It’s yours, Niall,” Liam says, and his face is hopeful, as if there’s a chance Niall won’t like it, but he’s hoping that’s not the case.  
  
Niall runs light fingers over the body of the guitar - light, beautiful wood (probably cedar, he thinks). There’s delicate mother-of-pearl inlay around the sound hole and in subtle, twisting lines all along the fretboard, up to where the brand is painted in a delicate hand (hand _painted_!) on the head stock. _Taylor_ , it reads. Liam and Zayn have bought him a beautiful, expensive guitar from one of the best makers in the world.  
  
“Thankyou,” Niall says, feels the word catch in his throat. He had to leave his guitar in Ireland, his Da said he’d not have need for it, and he hasn’t wanted to play since. But looking at the beautiful instrument - _his -_ in its case before him, he’s suddenly struck by the need to play, almost a tangible itch in his fingertips. “Thankyou so much.”  
  
He looks up at Liam, a bright smile across his face, and a happy, warm feeling settles in his chest. “It’s beautiful, Liam.”  
  
“Yeah, well,” Liam says, suddenly bashful as he shoves his hands in his pockets, “we thought it fit. A beautiful guitar for a beautiful person.”  
  
Niall can feel himself blush, but it doesn’t feel uncomfortable, or odd. It just feels like he’s been paid a compliment. “Thanks,” he says.  
  
Louis chooses that moment to bustle out of the kitchen and he fusses over the gift, asking Liam questions, but Niall is too busy smiling at Liam.  
  
*  
  
A few days later, Zayn pushes a couple of fancy envelopes over the counter at him in return for his coffee.  
  
“One for you and one for Lou and Harry,” he says, taking a giant sip of his coffee and instantly wincing, like he always does.  
  
Niall looks at the fancy envelope curiously.  
  
“Oooh, it’s that time of year again,” Louis says, plucking the one with his name on it out of Niall’s hand.  
  
Niall carefully opens the heavy card stock, pulling out a beautiful invitation edged in silver.  
  
 _Payne Productions_ , it reads, _requests the presence of_  
  
 _Mr. Niall Horan_  
  
 _At the annual Payne Productions Charity Gala_  
  
It goes on to list the date and time, but Niall’s still stuck on the fact that he’s holding a beautiful invitation in his hand. An invitation to a fancy party, the kind of event where everyone is beautiful and rich and _perfect_. Niall’s not perfect - far from it, but somehow Liam and Zayn still think he’s good enough to come to their big fancy do.  
  
Niall feels warm.  
  
*  
  
“You look happy,” Louis says the day after the party, tapping the photograph version of Niall’s smile where it’s resting on his kitchen bench. Apparently they made the gossip pages of the Daily Mail. The photo is of the five of them, Louis and Harry and Liam and Zayn, Niall between the two couples, grinning at Zayn’s teasing and Liam’s blush. He looks _expensive_ , a fancy omega in the fancy suit Louis dragged him to buy, slim-cut and flattering without being obscene.  
  
Niall laughed at Louis and Zayn’s “dancing,” ate fancy canapés and very unsubtly played celebrity bingo with Harry at their table. Liam was charming and polite and introduced Niall to people as his _friend_ , not as an omega or someone who makes his coffee, but his friend. And when the photographers came around, the five of them stood together and smiled. _Bonded couple Liam Payne and Zayn Malik-Payne, and friends at the Payne Productions charity gala._  
  
“I am,” Niall says, hooking his chin over Louis’ shoulder and giving him a backwards hug. Harry is humming to himself at the hob, and the flat is warm and cozy.  
  
“My little Nialler’s growing up,” Louis says, pretending to sniffle. “I remember when he didn’t like hugs, and now he’s a cuddlemonster and barista extraordinaire, friends with all the gorgeous Alpha/omega couples.”  
  
“Brings a tear to my eye,” Harry says from the hob, where he’s creating something delicious-smelling in what seems like fifty different pans.  
  
  
*  
  
Niall’s often the first one in the shopfront in the mornings. Harry and his apprentices, Josh and Dan, are usually in the kitchen from about five, but Louis has been sleeping later and later in recent weeks, and Niall feels a flush of pride that he’s trusted to count the float in every morning, to put the chairs down and flip the sign to _Open_.   
  
One morning, Louis doesn’t come down from his flat upstairs until nearly ten - Niall has survived the busy morning rush all on his own, surprising even himself with how capable at multitasking he’s become. He never thought he was all that clever, but apparently he’s able to keep a list of orders straight in his head without Louis to write them down and tack them to Bessie for him, chatting with the regulars waiting for their morning coffee.  
  
Louis comes downstairs and gives Niall a bear hug, laughing as Niall tries to shake him off and tend to Bessie. “Nialler! We’re going out on the town tonight!”  
  
“Are we?” Niall says, deftly working the steam wand despite the Louis-shaped limpet on his back.  
  
“Yep,” Louis says, letting Niall go and leaning a hip against the counter. “You, me, Harry, Liam and Zayn.”  
  
“What’s the occasion?” Niall tops off the cappuccino and hands it over the counter before turning to look at Louis -  
  
Louis, who is positively _glowing_ , sleep-rumpled and content, wide grin splitting his face. “We’re celebrating!”  
  
“Celebrating?” Niall is confused for a moment, until Louis drops his hands to cradle his flat belly.   
  
The sound Niall makes could charitably be described as a squeal, and he throws himself at Louis, who laughs at him as Harry sticks his head out of the kitchen.  
  
“Everything alright?” he asks, amused.  
  
“Nialler’s a bit excited,” Louis says.   
  
“Ah,” Harry says, nodding sagely. “Not every day he gets to be a godfather.”  
  
Niall freezes, then draws back to look between Louis and the swinging kitchen door where Harry has disappeared. “Wha - _godfather_?”  
  
Louis rolls his eyes and yells after his husband. “I hadn’t asked him yet, you prat!"  
  
Niall’s still stuck on the _gets to be a godfather_  part.  
  
“You want-“  
  
“Of _course_ we want you to be godfather,” Louis says gently. “Nothing but the best for Little Baby Styles."  
  
Niall grins so hard for the rest of the day that his cheeks hurt. Every time he looks at Louis, or Harry pokes his head out of the kitchen, he can’t help but be overwhelmed with gratitude. These two people who didn’t know him from Adam when he came in for lunch not even a year ago - these people are his family now, going out of their way to make him feel wanted. To make him feel loved.  
  
Louis smiles every time he catches Niall’s eye, decides they’re going to close up early in celebration. He volunteers to drive Niall home so he can pick up his _very best fancy restaurant clothes_ , and the two sing along to Katy Perry at the top of their lungs, loud and obnoxious and happy, and for once Niall doesn’t worry about the strange looks they’re getting from fellow drivers.  
  
*  
  
Niall is in a ridiculously good mood when they get to Libby’s house, and so is completely unprepared for the Alpha waiting for him in the kitchen.  
  
He notices the front door’s unlocked, and makes his way to the kitchen, Louis still singing behind him.  
  
There, at Libby’s kitchen table, is a very familiar Alpha.   
  
“Niall,” he says, looking up from his newspaper. He doesn’t look pleased.  
  
Sean is his eldest brother, a strong Alpha who owns his own sporting goods business. They're sixteen years apart, and Niall was too young to remember the two years when Sean lived at home, so they've never been all that close. Niall used to work weekends sorting in the stockroom of Sean’s shop, but the Alpha never worked there much himself, leaving it to his inferiors.  
  
Niall is completely unprepared for what a visit from Sean might mean. Is everything alright at home? Is Da sick? Is Da forgiving him - is he being called back to Ireland?  
  
"Louis, this is my brother Sean. Sean, this is-"  
  
"I know who he is," Sean says, standing. His chair scrapes loudly against the floor as he pushes it back. "He's one of the omegas in that tabloid photo that made the Irish Times website."  
  
"I have a name," Louis says, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at Sean, cocking a hip against the doorway to the kitchen. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Did I give you permission to speak?" Sean takes a step towards Louis, every inch of him threatening, but Niall steps in his path, hiding Louis as best he can.  
  
"He's Bonded," Niall says quickly. "And pregnant. He's hormonal, Sean, he doesn't mean any disrespect." Silently, he wills Louis to keep quiet. To his great surprise, Louis does, though he reaches to take Niall's hand, as if in support.  
  
"Did Da send you?"  
  
Sean snorts. "I don't need Da to tell me what to do, Niall, I'm not a _breeder._ I had business in London. I came of my own accord. I'll not have you shame our family further. Whore around all you want-"  
  
Niall flushes hot. "I'm not, I would never-"  
  
 _Crack!_ Niall's head whips to the side with the force of Sean's blow, backhanding him across the face. He can taste blood, knows Sean's split his lip. Louis makes a sound behind him, somewhere between shock and outrage, and Niall grips his hand tight, praying Louis doesn't make it worse.  
  
"I knew that'd be all you were good for," Sean continues, “after Da sent you away - but at least have the decency to keep your face out of the papers, y’hear?"  
  
"I will," Niall says, looking at the floor. He doesn't think he owes Sean any respect, not anymore, but he knows Sean has Da's temper, knows how quickly the situation could get out of hand.   
  
"You better. I don't want to have to come here again to set you straight."  
  
Niall looks up. "You won't have to. I promise."  
  
Sean looks satisfied. "Alright then," he says, heading for the door. He stops at the threshold, hand on the doorknob, to glare at Louis. "You be glad you're not my omega, boy. I'd thrash that uppity London attitude right out of you."  
  
"But I'm not, am I," Louis says, back straight and proud, and Niall's heart sinks. "My Alpha is worth _ten_ of you."  
  
“His Alpha's _rich_ ," Niall blurts out, putting himself between Louis and Sean again. "And very influential. Could make a lot of trouble for someone laying a hand on his pregnant bondmate."  
  
"Is that a _threat_?"  
  
"No," Niall says, and stands his ground as Sean moves closer. He can't let Sean hurt Louis. "It's not a threat, Alpha, I promise."  
  
Sean grabs Niall by the throat. "Maybe I should show you, eh?" He shakes Niall in Louis’ direction, like a rag doll. Louis goes still, face horrified as Sean continues, “Show you what happens to disobedient breeders with no respect for their betters."  
  
Sean laughs, and the sound is cruel. "Or maybe you're not even worth it." He looks down at Niall, who's passive in his grip even as his fingers tighten to bruising pressure. "Either of you."  
  
Niall slumps to the floor as soon as he's released, too intent on enjoying his newfound ability to breathe freely to pay much attention to Sean slamming his way out of the house. He cracked his head on the floorboards when he fell, and he’s starting to feel a little queasy, but it’s over. Sean is gone.  
  
"Oh god," Louis says, kneeling over him. "Niall, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"  
  
"I'm fine," Niall says, and his voice sounds rough, but he can still speak, still breathe, and Sean didn't get to lay a hand on Louis, so he means it.  
  
“Oh _Ni_ ,” Louis says, and Niall realises with a start that he said that last bit out loud. _Oops._  
  
The world gets a bit fuzzy at the edges after that. Niall lets Louis bundle him back into his car, quest for his fancy blazer all but forgotten, and they head back to Harry and Louis’ flat. Louis settles him onto the couch with a blanket and goes for his phone to text someone, and it’s not until he’s sipping at a cup of tea that Niall even realises he should be the one running around after Louis.  
  
“Shush,” Louis says, “none of that.” Niall can’t help his flinch when Harry comes bursting through the door, the force of his entrance slamming the doorknob into the wall.   
  
“Hey,” Harry says, approaching slowly, like he’s trying not to spook Niall.  
  
Niall’s face feels hot. “It’s okay,” he mutters into the blanket he knows Harry knitted himself. “I’m not _fragile_.”  
  
“I didn’t say you were,” Harry says gently, sitting beside him on the couch. “I think you’re strong, Ni. I always have. I’m sorry someone hurt you today, but that doesn’t mean you’re weak."  
  
Niall can’t even feel embarrassed about how long he spends curled up on the couch with Harry, unable to stop his trembling. He knows logically that he’s been disciplined worse before, but for some reason seeing Sean in London, in his house, feels different.  He doesn’t feel guilty for embarrassing Da, even though Sean said he should - he doesn’t think he was really doing anything wrong. He was escorted by two bonded couples, didn’t get drunk, didn’t flirt or act at all like a wanton omega. But his throat hurts, and so did Sean’s words.  
  
He curls into Harry’s side, comforted by the scent of familiar Alpha, and feels safe for the first time since he saw Sean.  
  
“I’m sorry I ruined your night,” he says eventually, when it becomes clear that Louis and Harry aren’t getting ready to go out.  
  
“It’s okay,” Harry says. “We’ll eat in. Liam and Zayn are going to come here, and I’ll whip something up.”  
  
“I feel awful silly,” Niall says.  
  
“That’s cause you are,” Louis puts in cheerfully from the recliner. “You’re an idiot for thinking we’d want to go out and celebrate without you. We can celebrate our impending sprog just fine in the living room where they were most likely conceived.”  
  
“Louuu,” Harry groans, and Niall laughs.  
  
By the time Liam and Zayn arrive, Niall has almost forgotten the events of the day. Harry gets up off the couch to start throwing something together for dinner, and Niall doesn’t miss the comforting scent. Zayn settles down on one side of him, not commenting on his split lip or the bruises forming around his throat, just squeezes his hand and starts teasing Louis about how his arse is going to get wider.  
  
A few minutes, later, though, Liam appears in the doorway from the kitchen and abruptly stops, making a strange, choked-off noise.  
  
Niall looks up, startled, to see Liam staring at him. “Are you okay?” he says, taking a step into the living room.  
  
“I’m fine,” Niall says, feeling foolish again. “Really.”  
  
He tries for what is meant to be a reassuring smile, but he doesn’t think he does very well, if the way Liam moves across to the couch at a glacial pace is any indicator. Liam sits down on the couch just as slowly, as if he’s taking care not to spook Niall.  
  
“You’re really okay?” he asks when he’s seated.  
  
“I’m fine,” Niall repeats. “My brother’s a bit of an arse, but I’m okay. Nothing I can’t handle, Liam. I promise."  
  
“Did - did your brother do this a lot?” Liam asks, voice deceptively light. “Throw you around?”  
  
“Not usually,” Niall says. “Maybe a clip around the ears if I’d been bad, or if I didn’t get enough done at his store.”  
  
Liam is strangely quiet for the whole evening, even though they’re meant to be celebrating.  
  
*  
  
The next day is Monday, and Liam and Zayn come in together for lunch, which is surprising. They’re both extremely busy people, and they don’t usually manage lunch together. More than once, they’ve met up in the bakery simply by going for lunch at around the same time.  
  
After they give Louis their orders, they come around to Niall’s collection counter even though neither of them ordered coffee.  
  
“Hi Nialler,” Zayn says with an easy smile.  
  
Niall finds it easy to smile back at the couple. “Hey.”  
  
“Niall,” Liam starts seriously, “the two of us were wondering if you’d like to have dinner with us tomorrow night? We can go somewhere - anywhere you like, we can have Harry and Louis along if you want-"  
  
“No,” Niall says, feeling bold. “I mean - it’s okay. I don’t - I don’t need a chaperone. I can come to dinner on my own. I - um, I’d love to have dinner with you."  
  
Liam beams at him.  
  
*  
  
Dinner should be terribly awkward.  
  
Niall is in one of Louis’ blazers, over the jeans and shirt he wore to work this morning. He’s pretty sure he smells like coffee grinds, and he didn’t have time to check his hair before Liam and Zayn came to pick him up after work. Instead of the fancy restaurant Niall had been terrified of, though, they’re in a cozy little Italian place where the waitstaff know Liam and Zayn by name ( _“Neither of us can cook,” Zayn had said sheepishly, “we eat a lot of takeout.”_ ) and the chef comes by the table to ask who their “pretty friend” is. Niall blushes. Zayn and Liam have come straight from work as well, Zayn in a graphic tee and jeans, but he still looks like a million bucks, and Liam is, well, _Liam_. Even in trousers and a button-up with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, he looks strong and powerful - important.  
  
Niall should feel terribly out of place next to them, but instead he feels proud. For once he’s not embarrassed that he’s out without a chaperone, that he’s having dinner in the company of an Alpha - he’s on a _date_. With people _interested in him_. An important, well-off bonded couple who are kind and nice and treat him with respect. He realises, as Zayn makes fun of Liam and the Alpha appeals to Niall for help, laughing, that Niall doesn’t have reason to be ashamed.  
  
If anything, he has reason to be _excited_.  
  
Hours later, far too late for a work night, really, Liam and Zayn walk him to his door.  
  
“I had a really good time tonight,” Liam says earnestly, taking Niall’s hand. It’s the most forward he’s been all night, and the touch sends tingles up Niall’s spine.  
  
“Me too,” he says.  
  
“So we can do this again?” Zayn asks.  
  
“Yeah,” Niall says, that warm feeling in his chest making itself known again. It’s a feeling he associates with Harry and Louis, with feeling safe. It feels like home, and when he thinks about Liam and Zayn and possibilities…   
  
It’s almost too much to bear.  
  
“Good,” Zayn says, darting in to smack a kiss on Niall’s cheek.  
  
Niall immediately goes bright red, and Liam laughs, but it’s not mean. The Alpha lifts Niall’s hand to his lips, and brushes a soft kiss over his knuckles.   
  
“Tomorrow night?”  
  
“Yes,” Niall says quickly. “Yeah. I’d love to. Tomorrow.”  
  
Niall has dinner with Liam and Zayn every night that week.  
  
*  
On Friday night, though, when Liam and Zayn are standing with Niall on his front stoop, Liam says hesitantly, “So, tomorrow night, we were wondering if you wanted to have dinner at ours. Um, our house.”  
  
“No pressure,” Zayn adds, obviously mindful of the giant misunderstanding they all went through the first time Liam invited Niall to their home.  
  
“I thought you couldn’t cook?” Niall says, voice light.  
  
“We can’t,” Zayn says wryly. “We’ll probably end up eating takeout.”  
  
“I can cook,” Niall blurts, decidedly not thinking about how rude it is, to presume to cook a meal in someone else’s home. “I haven’t cooked a meal for more than one person in _ages_.”  
  
Zayn and Liam trade meaningful glances.  
  
“It’s not - that’s not what Zayn was getting at,” Liam says carefully. “If you’d like to, of course we’d love you to cook, but you don’t um, you don’t _have to cook for us_ , or anything.”  
  
“I want to,” Niall says firmly.  
  
“Alright then,” Zayn says. “I guess - I’ll pick you up after the bakery closes, and we can go grocery shopping? There’s not really anything edible in our house."  
  
“Alright then,” Niall says with a grin.  
  
Tonight, after Zayn kisses his cheek, Liam darts in and does the same.  
  
The press of lips on his skin is nothing compared to the scent of Alpha, heady with power and _possibility_.  
  
“Oh,” Liam says softly, looking down at Niall. He hasn’t moved away, and their height difference is obvious this close, Liam a good half-foot taller. “Niall, can I-“  
  
“Yes,” Niall says, not waiting to hear the rest of the sentence.  
  
Liam reaches a hand up to trace the skin his lips just touched, and then, ever-so-gently, tips Niall’s chin up, and leans in.  
  
Liam kisses him.  
  
On a front stoop on a cold London evening, fingers tangled in another omega's, Niall has his first kiss. The press of Liam's mouth is soft, but entirely shocking, and Niall parts his lips slightly on instinct. His little _oh_  is swallowed by Liam’s tongue as it traces where his lips have parted. It’s gentle and comfortable, and sends a rush of heat down Niall’s spine, pooling in his belly.  
  
Eventually, Liam pulls away, and Niall opens his eyes - _when had he closed them_  - to see Liam looking down at him, eyes dark and hungry.  
  
“My turn,” Zayn says, and Niall turns at the feel of warm breath close to his ear, completely unprepared for the other omega’s mouth to slant over his. Zayn’s tongue is more daring than Liam’s, hot and talented against his own, and when he pulls away his grin is wicked and Niall is left breathless.  
  
“Tomorrow night, then,” Liam says, voice low and rough, as Zayn squeezes his hand in farewell.  
  
“Yes,” Niall says faintly, watches the couple as they start down the path. “Tomorrow.”   
  
When he gets inside he falls back against the closed door, needing it to hold him up. He’s just been _kissed._  
  
 _Twice._  
  
“Good night, then?” Libby asks mildly, standing on the bottom stair with her nighttime mug of tea in her hand.  
  
Niall smiles, feeling like he could just float up the stairs. “Yes,” he says. “Very good night.”  
  
“It’s good to see you happy,” Libby says. “You deserve to be happy, Niall.”  
  
For once, Niall doesn’t argue, not even in his head.  
  
*  
  
Niall hums his way through work the next day, and Louis looks at him suspiciously, but sings along to Katy Perry. When Zayn appears at five to four in the afternoon, Louis raises an eyebrow.  
  
“Again, Nialler?” he asks, poking Niall in the side. “How many nights in a row does that make?"  
  
“We’re being treated to home-cooked cuisine tonight,” Zayn says, as Niall ducks his head and smiles.  
  
Zayn is hopeless in the grocery store. He doesn’t know how to pick good avocados or what makes a spanish onion a spanish onion, but he laughs at Niall’s teasing and pays attention when Niall explains things. He pushes the cart so Niall can grab whatever he needs, and Niall feels a flush of pride when Zayn’s laugh catches the attention of a beta examining bread. Zayn is beautiful - most omegas are, slim-boned and delicate, but Zayn is almost otherworldly, all smooth skin and long eyelashes, and Niall feels special standing next to him, beautiful by association.  
  
Liam is in the kitchen when they reach the house, with what looks like their entire collection of pans out on the bench.  
  
“I wasn’t sure what you’d need,” he says, sheepish. “I wanted to make sure you’d have what you needed."  
  
“I think I’ll manage,” Niall teases. The cookware is expensive and high-end, but looks hardly used. Liam and Zayn stay in the kitchen, sitting at the breakfast bar as they watch him chop onion and set it sizzling in a pan.   
  
“That smells heavenly,” Liam says, watching with wide eyes as Niall adds garlic to the pan. “What are you making?”  
  
“Just pasta,” he replies, pleased. Hopefully they’ll like it. Liam and Zayn talk about work while he’s cooking, but they keep involving him in the conversation, making sure to ask his opinion about things.  
  
“You’re amazing,” Zayn says when the sauce is almost done, hooking his chin over Niall’s shoulder to look at what he’s doing. When a hand appears in his line of sight, Niall doesn’t hesitate to smack it with a spoon.  
  
“Heyyy,” a deep voice says.  
  
Heart berating fast, Niall says, “Hands off until it’s done, Liam.” He sneaks a glance over his shoulder. Liam is making a pouty face, but his eyes are crinkled up with mirth.  
  
When it’s time to eat, Liam sets the table while Niall dishes up the food, Zayn getting them all drinks. It’s comfortable, easy. Niall knows he should feel awkward that an Alpha is doing menial tasks for him, but he doesn’t. The realisation is scary and exciting all at the same time, like he’s proceeding into new territory that’s full of hope and possibility.  
  
Zayn makes an obscene noise when he takes his first bite.  
  
Liam’s reaction is both better and worse.  
  
 _“Marry me,”_  he says in a voice that’s more a moan, fork already loading up his next bite. He freezes. “Um.”  
  
Zayn laughs. “What he means, Ni, is that it’s delicious. We’re definitely keeping you.” Niall, predictably, blushes, at the teasing and at the thought of being _kept_.

After they're done, Liam waves off Niall's attempts to clean up and herds him into the living room, where Niall sits in a comfortable armchair opposite Liam and Zayn on the couch, and tries not to notice how nervous Liam looks.  
  
“Niall,” Liam says, after a deep, obvious breath, “I know I’m not going to be doing this - _right -"_  
  
“It’s okay, Li,” Zayn says, taking his bondmate’s hand.  
  
“Okay,” Liam says. “Tonight was awesome, Niall. Over these past few weeks we’ve gotten to know you better and we feel - we want to know if you’d be interested in-“  
  
“Courting us,” Zayn finishes. “Well, we’ve kind of been doing that part already.” He looks at Liam, and smiles, soft and fond, before he looks back at Niall. "We want to know if you’d do us the honour of being our bondmate.”  
  
“Um,” Niall says, and Liam’s face falls. “No,” he says quickly, “I mean, I’m not saying _no_ , I just - you two are _amazing_ , I just want you to make sure that I’m really - that you really feel - that I’m really what you want.”  
  
Liam slides off his chair smoothly and is on bended knee in front of Niall so quickly that the omega just blinks at him. “You’re who we want to spend the rest of our lives with,” he says, voice firm, and earnest. Zayn moves to sit on the arm of Niall’s chair as Liam continues. “I’m in love with you, Niall. You’re smart and sweet and funny and _kind_ , and you’re just - you’re perfect. Perfect for us.”  
  
“The piece we didn’t know we were missing,” Zayn says softly, and he’s looking fondly at Liam before he turns his gaze on Niall. “You fit around my sharp edges and Liam’s big heart. The three of us, together - it’s better than the two of us ever were.”  
  
“Oh,” Niall says faintly. He’s suddenly very glad to be sitting down. “I mean - yes. Yes, of _course_  I’ll be your bondmate, _yes._ ”  
  
Liam moves forward to wrap him in a hug, strong arms that hold Niall tight, Zayn a reassuring press against his side with small hands snaking between them to encircle Niall’s waist. The scent of _Alpha_  and _bond_  and _safety_  is overwhelming, and Niall is dizzy with the thought that he’ll get this for _the rest of his life_.  
  
The giddy feeling stays with him all the way home, and when they part on Niall’s doorstep it’s after a good ten minutes of kissing, Liam relenting when Zayn tugs at him, only for the omega to claim Niall’s mouth for his own, stepping aside again so Niall can reach up and hook an arm around Liam’s neck, tug him down into a kiss that leaves him tingling.  
  
*  
  
When he’s inside and in bed, lying on his back and staring at his ceiling, Niall realises with a start that a bond means he’s  _going to have sex._ He's going to have to stop taking his pills, he's going to have to let Liam and Zayn have sex with him. With a thrill, he thinks that he might even _enjoy_ it.   
  
The thought doesn't make him feel as dirty as he thought it would.  
  
It’s past midnight, but Niall digs out the omega books Louis gave him, and starts in on _So You're An Omega, What Now?_  where he left off, just thirty pages in. Embarrassed, angry, and a little hopeful all at once, he learns that the slick he'd been so ashamed of during his heat is natural, the body’s way of readying the omega for sex, of ensuring it won’t hurt. It signals to the Alpha that the omega is ready, and that an Alpha should never, ever try to have sex if the omega isn’t producing slick.   
  
Niall learned in the omega health talk at school that it was an omega’s duty to lie with their bondmate no matter what, that an omega’s job was to satisfy their Alpha so that the Alpha would in turn make sure the omega was serviced during heat. In the book Louis gave him (which was published over twenty years ago and has sold more than  _forty million copies,_ he checked _)_ reads about how sex should be pleasurable for _all_ partners, and how if it hurt, it meant something was wrong, and was a signal to stop.  
  
Niall feels like such an idiot.  
  
On one hand, it’s a tangible relief to know that he’s not going to be pressured into anything. He’s come to realise that Liam and Zayn are both fair people that will treat him with respect, and Liam is kind, but the idea that _society_  doesn’t believe it’s Niall’s duty to lie with his bondmate even if he doesn’t want to - it’s _huge._  It feels like a physical weight off his shoulders, one less thing to be nervous about.  
  
*  
  
The next night, after Niall’s made a roast that makes the other two so bloody _happy_  it’s ridiculous, after Liam and Zayn have cleared away the dinner plates and set the dishwasher going, they settle in the living room again, this time with cups of tea, and Liam asks him some uncomfortable questions.  
  
They’re not _meant_ to be uncomfortable, and Liam’s approach is kind, but they’re things Niall wasn’t sure he’d _ever_  get a say in - what kind of bondmate does he want to be? Does he want to work? Does he want to work for Liam again?   
  
"I like working in the bakery," Niall says slowly. "I like talking to Louis and meeting new people and earning money. But I've always wanted - the _small_ parts of being an omega. The ones Zayn doesn't."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Like keeping the home," Niall says, embarrassed. He gets the feeling that to a progressive couple like Liam and Zayn, he must seem terribly old-fashioned. "I like the idea of being the one who provides for the family by making the house a _home_. I've always wanted to be the one someone can come home to, knowing that it'll be safe and warm and welcoming."  
  
"You want to take care of us," Zayn says, reaching out to take his hand. He squeezes gently. "To cook and clean and build a sanctuary."  
  
"I've always been a bit crap at cleaning, if I'm honest," Niall admits.  
  
"So are we," Liam says, waving it off. "We have a service come in twice a week. That doesn't have to change."  
  
"There's another thing, though," Zayn says. "Another part of being an omega I know you want."  
  
Niall stays silent.  
  
"We have to be honest with each other if this is going to work," Zayn reminds him gently.  
  
Niall looks down at where his and Zayn's hands are joined. "For a long time I didn't think I'd ever have the chance to be Bonded," he says. "I'd resigned myself to the fact that I was never going to get the life I wanted."  
  
"And now?" Liam's tone is encouraging.  
  
"I don't want to ruin it," Niall says carefully. "But I used to - _no_. That's not right. If I'm going to be have bondmates and a real, proper family of my own, I was wondering about children. If, y'know, you two wanted any."  
  
Niall holds his breath.  Liam and Zayn both have big, important careers. It's not unheard of for Alphas to want to focus on their own lives instead of expanding their families.  
  
"I had mumps when I was little," Zayn says. "I can't have kids."  
  
Niall is going to cry. He couldn't imagine anything worse.  
  
"Hey, Nialler, it's okay," the other omega says, squeezing his hand. "I came to terms with it a long time ago. It helps that I wanted a career, that I never really wanted to be a dam. Not for myself, anyway."  
  
"We still wanted a family," Liam says. "We were planning to adopt."  
  
"Okay," Niall says. He can live with that. It won't be the same as carrying them himself, as nurturing them inside, keeping them safe until it's time to bring them into the world, but he's sure he'll love them all the same. There's plenty of children that don't have families, that need love. Niall thinks he has a lot to give them.  
  
"That's not what I meant - it's not really my decision."  
  
It's one of the more baffling things Liam has ever said - of _course_ it's his decision - but the Alpha continues, "You're in charge of your body, not me. Do  _you_ want kids, Niall? Do you want to be pregnant? Answer for yourself, not what you think I want to hear. Do you want to be a dam?"  
  
"Yes," Niall says quietly, studying the way his knuckles are going white in between Zayn's tan ones.  
  
"Really?"   
  
Niall looks up at his tone, noting the way Liam looks like someone just told him he's won the lottery, but he doesn't quite believe them yet.  
  
"More than anything," Niall says, voice stronger this time, and Liam throws himself at Zayn, drawing Niall into a hug with them as he makes a funny little whooping sound.  
  
"I didn't want to scare you off," he says, voice close to Niall's ear. "I want you to be happy, I want us to make you happy. And if that means having you here, making our big lonely house a home, helping us fill it with laughter and babies, we'll do anything to give you that."  
  
"You won't be - jealous?" Niall's speaking into Zayn's shoulder, but he knows the other omega can hear him. "You won't hate me for giving your Alpha something you can't?"  
  
" _Our_ Alpha," Zayn reminds him. "Liam will be _our_ Alpha, and your children will be mine too. I'll love them just as much as if they were my own."  
  
Niall’s getting that familiar warmth in his chest again.  
  
Liam’s got a Skype call planned with someone overseas, and when he heads upstairs to his office the two omegas curl up on the couch together.  
  
“When you were little,” Zayn says, voice slow and content as Niall fusses with his hair, “what did you imagine your bonding ceremony would be like?”  
  
“Oh,” Niall says. He hasn’t let himself think about those childhood dreams for a long time.  
  
“Come on, Ni, everybody has them,” Zayn chides.  
  
“I know,” Niall says quickly. “I just - I didn’t think I’d ever get the chance to  _have_  a bonding ceremony. It’s a bit strange to suddenly be thinking about the logistics of one."   
  
He thinks about it. “I guess I hoped it’d be with someone who loved me,” Niall says. “That I’d be excited and hopeful and all the things that make you feel safe and warm."  
  
Zayn kisses Niall’s shirt, where his head is laying.  
  
“Do we make you feel like that?”  
  
Niall looks up to see Liam in the doorway. “I thought you had-“  
  
Liam waves off the question. “Rescheduled.” He moves further into the room until he’s kneeling next to the couch, looking fondly down at Zayn and Niall. “Do we make you feel like that?”  
  
Niall looks up at this Alpha, kind and gentle and respectful, on his knees in his own giant house, the kind of house that Niall can imagine raising kids in, chasing them around the yard and teaching them how to make bread in the fancy kitchen. Zayn’s head is a reassuring weight on his chest, the omega who loves him, who says Niall makes his bond complete.  
  
“Yeah,” Niall says, realising that he finally can put a name to the now-familiar warmth in his chest, the glow of contentment and hope and comfort and possibility.  
  
 _Home._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was intended to be a world-building fic, to introduce a character and his view of the world and get him to the point where he could feel comfortable moving on with his life, with building a new one. This particular fic in this particular abo universe I’ve created doesn’t contain a sex scene - it didn’t fit the tone of the story. There will be other works in the series - Niall’s bonding ceremony and first time and exploration of his own sexual identity, Louis and Harry’s courtship, who Zayn and Liam really are and where they’ve come from etc.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Come say hi on [tumblr](http://downintinpanalley.tumblr.com) or comment below!

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think! Come talk to me! I'm on tumblr at downintinpanalley.


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